


The Wayne Family Chronicles

by LOTSlover



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: F/M, Family, Humor, Love, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-03
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2018-03-16 02:19:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 54,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3470732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LOTSlover/pseuds/LOTSlover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a series of one-shots based on Raising Nicholas.  These are just some family moments that I didn’t have time to put in my fic or suggestions by readers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Game Day

**Author's Note:**

> The Gotham Wildcats are in the football playoffs against the Metropolis Meteors. Bruce takes Diana to her first football game.  
> Big thanks to Dinasis for the Beta!

**Game Day**

“Come on, Princess!” Bruce yelled up the stairs as he glanced at his watch again. “We’re going to be late!”

“Why does it matter? I thought you had your own private viewing box!” Diana yelled back.

Bruce shook his head in amusement at her naiveté as a smile curled his lips. Even after this long in Man’s World, she still had so many things to learn. “It’s called a private suite,” he clarified, “and we don’t want to be late or we’ll miss the start of the game.”

“We’re coming!” she called as she finished adjusting Kaia’s pink headband around her head.

Bruce couldn’t help the smile that grew larger as he watched his family coming down the stairs. Diana looked positively adorable in a black Gotham Wildcats sweatshirt with black fitted jeans and knee high black boots. Her lustrous raven hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her blue eyes sparkling with excitement. He swore she could make a paper bag look sexy as hell.

In one arm, Diana carried their sleeping infant who was wearing a pink Wildcats cheerleader outfit, a pacifier in her mouth. She wore a headband with the pink daisy that contrasted beautifully with her black hair that was so much like her mother’s. Nicholas held onto his mother’s hand as he attempted to navigate the steps that would take him to his father who waiting impatiently at the bottom, but having a difficult time of it.

“Dada!” he squealed in excitement at the sight of his father.

His fifteen month old son was wearing jeans and a Wildcats sweatshirt and ball cap, his blue eyes bright with excitement just like his mother’s. He could still scarcely believe this amazing family was his. It was something that he thought he’d never had and now he knew that he couldn’t survive without them. He hadn’t felt complete until Diana and their children had come into his life.

“Are we all set?” Alfred asked, coming around the corner with Kaia’s car seat.

“Are you sure this isn’t going to be too violent for Nicholas?” Diana voiced her concern as she settled her three week old daughter into her car seat, tucking a blanket around her.

Bruce chuckled as he kissed Diana on the cheek in reassurance. “It’ll be fine, Princess. He probably won’t even be paying any attention to the game. He’ll be too excited to see Clark.”

“It was nice of you to invite them to watch the game with us in your view box,” she told him.

“It’s a suite and I had to,” he informed her as he slipped his Wildcats pullover on over his head. “We have a bet on who is going to win and I want to see him cry when his team gets crushed.”

“Bruce,” Diana scolded him, pursing her lips in disapproval. “They live on reporters’ salaries and they have a new baby. I’m sure they can’t afford whatever it is you and Kal wagered on a meaningless game.”

“It’s not a meaningless game and don’t worry,” he reassured her. “It’s not money. Its monitor duty shifts. Whoever loses has to cover the other’s shifts for the next month.”

“Oh, Hera,” she said with a sigh and a roll of her eyes as Alfred took the children to the waiting car. “We better win tonight or I’m never going to get to see my husband for the next month.”

Bruce suddenly pulled her into his arms, his lips swiftly capturing hers in a kiss. “This will be an easy win. The Gotham Wildcats are unbeatable.”

“You better hope so or you’ll be taking a lot of cold showers for the next month,” she pointed out as she gently patted his cheek with a knowing grin.

He took her by the hand to lead her outside, anxious to get to the game. “I’ll make damn sure we get plenty of alone time even if we have to be together in the Monitor Womb.”

“Yes, because that’s allowed,” she said with a shake of her head.

“I’m the one who made the rule so I get to break it,” he informed her with a smirk.

Diana paused, looking back into the house before closing the door. “Wait,” she muttered. “I thought Tim was coming with us.”

“He’s at Stephanie’s,” he replied. “He called and said that he’d just meet us there.”

“Is he bringing Stephanie?” she asked with sudden hope. “I’m anxious to spend some time with her. I’d like to get to know the girl who is dating our son.”

Getting into the limo after his wife, Bruce quickly wrapped his arm around Diana’s shoulders. “I’m sure she’s fine.”

“You already did a background check on her, didn’t you?”

The single perfectly arched eyebrow, the smirk tugging at the corner of her red lips as well the perceptive sparkle in her cobalt eyes all combined to tell him that she already knew the answer to her question. He was dead.

“Maybe,” he causally replied as he avoided his wife’s intense stare, allowing his gaze to settle on his children sitting across from them. Kaia was still sleeping soundly while Nicholas sat in his car seat, jabbering away to his stuffed bunny.

“Bruce,” Diana chided him for the second time that evening.

“I had to make sure that she was who she claimed to be,” he insisted. “I couldn’t just let him continue to see someone without knowing everything about her.”

“So what did you find out?”

“She’s clean so far,” he revealed, leaning forward to put Kaia’s pacifier back into her mouth. “Not even a speeding ticket.”

An endearing smile played on his lips as Kaia momentarily opened her bright blue eyes to peer at him, her head tilting sleepily to the side as she stared at her father. He knew from the first moment that he held her that his little girl would forever own his heart just like Nicholas did. She had somehow managed to wrap herself around his soul and there was no getting free from the spell she had placed on him.

“Ju ju,” Nicholas babbled, reaching out a hand to his mother. “Mama…ju ju…”

“Well, I guess that is a comfort,” Diana agreed, digging into Nicholas’s bag and handing him his sippy cup of apple juice.

Nicholas kicked his feet as he happily took his cup, humming to himself as he drank his juice. Diana smiled at him, amazed how much he looked like Bruce in every way. His mannerisms were even like his father’s down to the scowl. She decided it must be like raising Bruce himself when he was a little boy.

Turning her attention back to her husband, she found Bruce staring at her with a mischeivious glint in his eyes. “What?” she asked, settling back against him.

“You look so sexy tonight,” he replied, leaning in to kiss her throat.

“Bruce, we have little eyes watching us,” she reminded him.

“Nicholas, close your eyes so I can kiss your mother,” he told his son.

Nicholas just grinned at them, babbling something as he pointed at them. “I don’t think that’s going to work,” Diana said. “Besides, I’m wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. There can’t be anything attractive about that.”

“Want to bet?”

Diana rolled her eyes at him. “You and your bets.”

“I think I need to build a divider between the seats in the limo so I can kiss you in front of the kids when I want to,” Bruce decided.

“I think you will just have to learn to control yourself instead,” Diana told him.

“Fine,” Bruce huffed, lacing his fingers with hers instead.

Diana brought their joined hands up, pressing a kiss to his hand. “Now, tell me about this game. What is this football?”

“Don’t tell me that you don’t anything about football, Princess?”

“All I know is there is some ball and they wear helmets on their heads. At least that’s what I remember from our incident with Grodd.”

Bruce chuckled with her response. “I will teach you everything you need to know when the game starts.”

“Are Dick and Donna coming too?”

“They were going to try,” he said. “I think they had something going on tonight, but they were going to try to come for the second half of the game.”

“So why is this the first time that we’ve gone to a game?” she asked as they pulled into the parking lot of the stadium.

“Well, someone was quite pregnant and I was busy trying to stop the shipment of weapons out of Gotham,” he reminded her.

“I guess that’s a good excuse,” she relented.

Unbuckling Nicholas, Diana handed her son off to Bruce who was standing outside of the limo before unfastening Kaia’s car seat. She exited to find that they had parked outside of a private entrance where paparazzi were not allowed.

“You mean we’re actually going to be able to have a night out without having our pictures taken?” she teased.

“Yes,” Bruce confirmed. “I made sure that there were no paparazzi in this area. I don’t want pictures of our children splashed over every single newspaper and magazine. The less the world knows about them, the safer they’ll be.”

“Always thinking ahead,” she replied in admiration, taking his hand in hers. “You do know it would be foolish for something to even think about going after Wonder Woman’s child, right?”

“That never seems to stop them,” he ground out as he led her inside the stadium towards his private suite.

Nearing his suite, Bruce spotted Lois and Clark waiting outside for them, Lara in the Kryptonian’s arms. “Are you ready to lose?” Clark asked as they approached.

“I never lose,” Bruce confidently stated as he opened the door and led them inside.

Clark whistled at what he saw, his eyes wide with astonishment. The suite was larger than the living room of their apartment in Metropolis. To the side was a table weighed down with more food than he could eat in a week. Behind it was a full bar and refrigerator no doubt filled with anything they could ever want.

Several overstuffed chairs sat before a large plate glass window that had the perfect view of the football field below. A sliding glass door opened to stadium seating outside on a balcony if they wished to join the fans and be a part of the game.

“This is amazing,” Clark admired in shock. “You could fit half of our apartment in here, Lois.”

“Maybe we’ll just move in here,” she agreed.

“Make yourselves at home,” Bruce said as he sat his son down. Nicholas immediately began running around the large room, his stuffed bunny clutched tightly in his hand and his sippy cup in the other. “Nicholas, keep your clothes on. No streaking.”

Nicholas just looked innocently up at him as if he had no clue what his father was talking about. He gave him a toothy smile, laughing as if Bruce had just said something funny. “Dada,” he babbled, shaking his head.

“Yah, I know that smile,” Bruce told him, his voice stern, but his eyes sparkling with love. “I invented that charming smile so don’t try it on me, little man.”

Nicholas just giggled before running towards Uncle Clark. “Clak…clak…” he jabbered, raising his arms up. He was not the least bit happy with the fact the Man of Steel’s arms were already full.

“Hey there, Nick,” Clark happily greeted him, handing Lara over to Lois before bending down to pick him up. “Are you excited about the game?”

Nicholas chattered something only half recognizable as he laid his head against Uncle Clark’s shoulder. Clark affectionately patted his back as he made his way to look out the window at the field below where players were preparing for the big game.

“Lara is getting so big,” Diana cooed as she came to stand with Lois.

“She has Clark’s appetite,” Lois revealed. “I think she’s trying to keep up with her father.”

“Kaia has quite the appetite too,” Diana replied as she glanced at her daughter sleeping in Alfred’s arms. He had contentedly settled into one of the overstuffed chairs before the large window with his Gotham Wildcats hat on and Kaia in his arms. 

Diana couldn’t help but smile at them. Alfred was quite attached to the newest little member to the Wayne family, holding her every single chance he got. While Nicholas was his partner in crime, Kaia was his little angel.

Just then the door to the suite burst open, Tim racing in and breathing heavily. “Did I miss anything yet?”

“No, it’s just about to start,” Bruce informed him.

“Good,” he said as leaned against a wall in relief. “I thought I had missed kick-off.”

“Where’s Stephanie?” Diana asked with a teasing smile. “Didn’t you bring her?”

“What? No!” Tim exclaimed. “She doesn’t really like football.”

“So when are you going to let me invite her over for dinner?” Diana questioned him.

Tim began to make his way past his mom, heading directly to the feast spread out on the table. “I dunno,” he muttered. “Someday. I’ve starved. Let’s eat.”

“Go ahead,” Bruce told him. “They’re doing the coin flip right now.”

Tim quickly began loading his plate with food before grabbing a can of Coke and heading to a chair beside Alfred. “This is going to be awesome.”

“You know Metropolis is going to win,” Clark told him as he took Nicholas to get something to eat.

“Yah, right,” Tim mumbled with a mouthful of food. “Your Meteors are going down!”

“You better hope the Meteors don’t lose,” Lois complained with a frown. “I’ll hardly get to see my husband for whole a month.”

“Such a stupid bet,” Diana agreed as she took her plate and sat down in a chair next to Bruce.

“You won’t think so when I win and I have more time to spend with you,” Bruce leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“I don’t know,” Diana murmured. “I kind of like the idea of an impromptu visit with you in the Monitor Womb while you’re supposed to be on duty.”

“I heard that,” Clark loudly stated from the food table.

“And you’ll forget you heard it too,” Bruce barked in response.

“Okay, so tell me about this game,” Diana quickly changed the subject with a faint blush. “What are they doing now?”

“Gotham won the coin toss which means they can chose to do what they want with the ball,” Bruce explained. “We just chose to kick the football to the Meteors.”

Diana frowned as she watched the Wildcats kick the ball to the other team. “Why would they just give up the ball like that? Why not fight to keep it if they won it?”

“Wow,” Tim chimed in with a chuckle. “This is going to be a very long game. You should have sat her down and explained it to her ahead of time, Bruce.”

Diana shot her son a glare before turning her attention back to the field. “I don’t understand why you would willingly just give up the football when you won it to begin with.”

“Do they have any games on Themyscira like this?” Lois asked.

“We have games, but nothing ridiculous like this,” Diana replied with a disbelieving shake of her head. 

“Patience, Princess,” Bruce reassured her. “It’s just getting started. We gave the ball to the Meteors now, but at the beginning of the second half, we get the ball first.”

“Okay,” she finally agreed as she took a bite of her chip. “That sounds like a fair tactical plan.”

“Now, watch,” Bruce told her as he leaned in close to her, pointing towards the quarterback and doing his best to suppress the sudden surge of arousal that came with being this close to her. “That’s the quarterback. He’s the leader who is calling the plays to the rest of the team. He’s yelling codes that only his team will understand. Depending on what he calls, the players will follow his instructions.”

“So he’s the general?”

“Not quite,” Bruce corrected her. “The general is the head coach on the sidelines. The quarterback gets the signals from him on what plays to call.”

“So he’s the second in command,” Diana decided.

“You could say that,” he agreed with a nod. “Alright, the quarterback just handed the ball off to the running back…

“WHOA!” Tim yelled. “Did you just see that?”

Alfred, Tim, and Bruce all yelled as the running back was literally picked up and thrown to the ground by a Wildcat linebacker while Clark groaned. “That was just ugly,” Clark stated, eating with Nicholas on his lap. “I hope they don’t try to run that play again anytime soon.”

“They had his number!” Tim exclaimed with giddy excitement. “Hey, Clark, wanna make a wager?”

“No betting, Tim,” Diana interjected. “You’re too young and your father has already gotten himself into enough trouble as it is with making a bet.”

Tim shot Bruce an amused look for which he received a patented bat glare. “I’m not in trouble,” Bruce maintained. “I fully intend to win.”

“We’ll just see about that,” Clark piped up. “My Meteors only lost one game this whole season.”

“The Wildcats are unbeaten,” Tim smugly pointed out before breaking into a cheer as the Meteor’s quarterback was sacked in the pocket. 

Nicholas had no clue what was going on, but was completely caught up in the excitement as he raised his arms to cheer with stuffed bunny in hand. He giggled and yelled, having no idea what was happening but enjoying all the noise nonetheless as he sat on Uncle Clark’s lap.

“I have no idea how Miss Kaia can sleep through all this racket,” Alfred said in amazement as he looked down at the sleeping infant nestled in his arms. “She has no idea what she’s missing.”

“That’s alright,” Lois replied, gazing down at the sleeping girl in her arms. “Lara is completely oblivious as well.”

“That was good right?” Diana asked Bruce as she leaned on the arm of her chair so she could ask Bruce questions over the noise.

“Yes, we took out their quarterback,” he confirmed. “Now, they had three tries to get the ball down the field, but they failed…miserably.”

“I heard that too,” Clark grumbled.

“Anyway,” Bruce continued. “On the fourth down, they have to kick it back to us for our turn to try for a touchdown or they can try to convert one more time to get a first down.”

“Finally, this is beginning to make some sense,” she said with satisfaction. “This is just like a battle.”

Bruce cast a sidelong glance at her, the corner of his lips curling with affection. She was beyond captivating and at times he thought that he could love her anymore than he already did. Somehow, she always managed to prove him wrong.

“Our quarterback is going to run a play that will hopefully gain us several yards into enemy territory,” he clarified, knowing that if he described it like a war she’d understand it better. “The quarterback is moving out of the pocket and looking for a receiver down field to throw the ball to.”

Diana watched as the quarterback expertly shuffled his feet, moving about as if in a dance as he dodged a man trying to tackle him to the ground. He suddenly set his feet, drawing his arm back and releasing the football to a man about twenty yards downfield who was wide open.

The suite erupted in cheers as the receiver caught the football and began to run, leaping over a diving safety and racing towards the end zone. Unfortunately, another player tackled him at the thirty yard line, bringing the thrilling play to an end.

“That was amazing!” Diana cried as she watched a Wildcat offer his hand to his downed teammate, helping him up to his feet before heading back into the huddle.

“See?” Bruce said with a grin. “I knew you’d like it.”

“So what now?”

Bruce proceeded to explain how they would continue to drive the ball the rest of the way into the end zone to score a touchdown, loving every single moment he got to spend with her like this. He’d never met another woman quite like her and yet he knew there would never be another like Diana. Thank God she was all his.

“Yes!” Tim screamed in excitement. “Score!”

“So is that the game?” Diana questioned Bruce. “Did we win?”

Bruce chuckled softly, amused by her naïveté. “No, there’s four quarters total. This is just the first quarter. Remember we get ball back in the second half?”

“Oh yah, I forgot,” she sheepishly muttered.

“It’s okay, Princess,” he told her, leaning in and kissing her temple. “It’s your first game. You’ll have it all down before the second half even starts.” 

Kaia suddenly began to whimper and cry, catching her mother’s attention. “Alfred, I can take her,” she offered. “I’m sure she’s hungry.”

“Not at all, Miss Diana,” Alfred insisted. “I’ve got her diaper bag and bottle right here. We’re more than content right where we are. You just enjoy the game.”

Diana smiled at the pair, knowing that when Alfred was speaking of being content he was probably referring more to himself than Kaia. Her daughter had become more than taken with the elderly man, but her father was still her ultimate hero. Once she was in Bruce’s arms, it was next to impossible to separate the two.

Nicholas scooted himself off his Uncle Clark’s lap, toddling over to sit with Tim for a while. Tim absentmindedly leaned down and picked him up as he watched the game, setting him down beside him in the overstuffed chair that was large enough to accommodate both sitting side-by-side. Nicholas immediately reached over to steal grapes from his brother’s plate while Tim was completely consumed with the game.

Bruce leaned in close to his wife again. “Alright, now the Meteors have the ball again. They’re going to try to work their way down the field again, but the Wildcats are going to stop them.”

“You hope they’re going to stop them,” Lois corrected him with a scowl. “This game is far from over, playboy.”

“Want to make a bet, Lane?” Bruce shot back for which he earned a punch to his shoulder from his wife.

“Ow,” he complained as he rubbed his shoulder. “What was that for?”

“No more betting,” she hissed at him. “I’m already at risk of hardly seeing you for the next month.”

“Trust me, Princess,” he assured her with a kiss. “This is sure thing.”

“You will be eating those words when you’re covering all of my monitor duty shifts,” Clark crowed from beside Lois.

“You better hope he loses or you’ll be in trouble with me,” Lois bit out, shooting daggers at her husband. “I’m not staying up every night with Lara just because you lost a stupid bet with Bruce.”

“What’s wrong with Lara?” Diana asked. “Isn’t she sleeping through the night yet?”

“Colic,” Lois informed her with a frown.

“Nicholas never had that. He was sleeping through the night around four months,” Diana thoughtfully replied. “Hopefully Kaia will be the same way.”

“Rub it in,” Lois grumbled under her breath.

“YAY!” Tim yelled, Nicholas chiming in as the Wildcats intercepted the ball. “Your Meteors are going down, Clark!”

They all watched in amazement, some excited and others suddenly sick, as the Wildcat player ran the ball into the end zone for another touchdown making it fourteen to zero. Clark sank further back in his chair, wishing now that he had just kept his stupid mouth shut about the game.

“This is game is not over,” Clark snapped. “It’s only the first quarter.”

“The first quarter is over now,” Tim pointed out. “It’s the start of the second.”

“We will come back,” Clark maintained. “We have come back from further deficits than this.”

“But not against the Wildcats,” Bruce said with a smirk.

Clark stood up to go fill his plate again, a confident smile on his face that he wasn’t actually feeling at that moment. “Well, we get the ball again.”

“Yah, so we can take it away from you again,” Tim quipped.

“Why do they get the ball back again?” Diana leaned in to ask Bruce. “They just had it. Don’t we get it back?”

“We stole it from them and scored so now out of pity we give it back to them.”

“It’s not pity,” Clark ground out. “It’s the rules of the game.”

“Whatever,” Bruce responded with a shrug.

“I think we should play a football game among the Justice League,” Diana suggested.

Bruce’s head snapped to the side in surprise. “Really?”

“Why not?” she asked. “I think it could be fun.”

“I pity whoever gets to be tackled by you, Princess,” Bruce teased. “We could end up with more Leaguers in the infirmary than in the field on missions.”

“I promise I’ll be gentle,” she swore, suddenly excited by the idea.

“I’ve sparred with you, remember?” he reminded her, leaning in close to whisper in her ear, “and I’ve made love with you. Sometimes you get a little…exuberant.”

“You never seemed to mind my excitement,” she softly bit out.

Bruce chuckled as he took her hand in his, his eyes growing dark with lust. “Oh no,” he quickly countered. “I never said I minded. In fact, I love it more than you can imagine.”

Diana pulled her hand free to cross her arms against her chest. “Then what’s the problem?”

“I just think it could get ugly, that’s all.”

Making his way back to his seat, Clark decided to come to Bruce’s aid. “I’m afraid Bruce is right, Di. It could get very ugly. Flash would be flying all over the field, Lantern would use his ring to intercept the ball, Canary would blow the other team away with her sonic cry.”

“What if we say no powers?” she posed the idea.

“We’ll see,” Bruce answered her. “Right now, let’s just worry about getting through this game.”

“Stop him!” Tim yelled.

“Yes!” Clark cheered. “We finally scored! Fourteen to seven.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Bruce maintained.

XXX

By the time Dick and Donna showed up, the game was tied at twenty-eight. Nicholas was fast asleep in Alfred’s arms with his bunny clutched to his chest, Kaia and Lara both asleep in their car seats. “What did we miss?” Dick asked as he rushed in.

“It’s about time, bro!” Tim greeted him. “It’s the start of the fourth quarter. Where have you been?”

“Donna had a showing at a gallery in New York City,” Dick informed them.

“And I really appreciate you missing most of the game for it,” Donna told him, pulling him in for a sultry kiss. “It meant a lot to me.”

Dick smiled dreamily at her, wishing he could kiss her the way he was dying to at that moment. “I’m sure you’ll more than make it up to me later tonight,” he murmured.

“You know it, Bird Boy,” she sexily teased as she kissed him again.

“Gag,” Tim groaned. “You two are as bad as Bruce and Diana.”

“Shhh….sit down,” Clark said. “The Meteors are kicking off. We’re going to put a stop to the Wildcats, get the ball back and win this game.”

“It’s not over yet,” Dick stated as he sat down in his chair, Donna in his lap.

The Wildcats kick returner floated in the backfield around the third yard line, waiting to catch the football. He immediately took off, narrowly missing being tackled to the ground. The player leapt over one Meteor, ducking and dodging as he streaked across the field.

“Yes! Go! Go! Go!” Diana screamed, leaping to her feet in wild excitement.

Bruce couldn’t stifle the laughter that bubbled up in his throat at his wife’s enthusiasm. Throughout the course of the game, she had morphed from a naïve Amazon princess with no clue about what she was watching into a regular football fanatic.

Bruce cast a glance at Clark who was laughing as well at the sudden change in the princess. Clark just shook his head in mutual amusement, Diana turning in time to catch the shared look. “What?” she asked. “What did I do?”

“Absolutely nothing,” Bruce assured her as she sat back down. “You’re perfect in every way.”

“Tackle him!” she suddenly growled, her attention back on the game. “He missed his tackle! He should be taken off of the field and sent to the Pits of Tartarus for such a bone-headed move!”

Bruce’s hand quickly moved to cover his mouth. He loved it when she was riled up. He didn’t think she could possibly be any more attractive. “Easy, Princess,” he cautioned her. “Let’s not condemn him to hell for a bad play.”

“A blind man could have seen that play coming,” she claimed in exasperation.

Bruce took her hand, forcing her to sit down again. “It’s alright,” he told her. “We still have the ball.”

“If we don’t score, I swear by Hera I’ll…”

“Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to introduce mom to football,” Tim interrupted with a chuckle.

“Why? I love it,” she replied. “It’s a lot like battle.”

“Time is running out,” Dick growled. “They better score on the next drive.”

“Getting nervous, Dick?” Clark asked him with a grin. “We have the ball now.”

“That doesn’t mean they will score, Kal,” Diana snapped at him, shooting him a glare that could rival Bruce’s any day.

Clark shriveled back into his chair, sinking lower and causing Bruce to laugh at him. “I wouldn’t argue with her if I were you, Kent,” Bruce warned him.

Lois patted Clark’s shoulder. “It’s okay, honey. Our team will come out on top in the end.”

“Care to make a bet, Lois?” Diana asked her.

“Diana!” Bruce cried in stunned disbelief.

“What? If you and Clark can bet, why can’t Lois and I?”

“No, I’m good,” Lois claimed. “I believe one bet in the family is enough for now.”

They all watched as the Meteor’s quarterback threw the ball to a receiver downfield that was wide open. The receiver easily ran it in for a touchdown, Lois and Clark leaping to their feet and cheering wildly. Unfortunately, so did the Meteors who were then penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct when one of their players taunted a Wildcat that resulted in a brawl.

“There’s only two minutes left,” Diana murmured to Bruce, her blue filled with worry.

“Plenty of time,” he calmly replied, unruffled.

Diana grabbed his hand, holding it tight as the Meteor’s kicked the ball to the Wildcats. Her grip tightened as the receiver was tackled on the twenty yard line, her frustration level rising. Her jaw was clenched tightly as the next play ended with only a gain of a couple of yards, time quickly ticking down.

“This isn’t good,” Diana groaned. “Score, damn it!”

Wincing, Bruce bit his bottom lip as the ache in his hand intensified with the death-grip his wife had on it. He just hoped she didn’t end up crushing it. That was going to be rather embarrassing to explain at the office.

They watched in tense silence as the quarterback threw a Hail Mary pass from the twenty-third yard line to a receiver who was near the ten yard line with twenty seconds left in the game. The receiver easily caught the ball before tip-toeing stylishly into the end zone.

The crowd erupted into a heated frenzy along with the Wayne family in the suite. Diana finally released Bruce’s hand much to his great relief. He nonchalantly shook his hand out, trying to force the feeling back into his fingers and thankful it wasn’t broken. It would have been worth it though just to see her excited reaction to the game.

Diana turned to Bruce, her hands gripping his sweatshirt. Her eyes were wild with panic. “Now what? We only have seven seconds left!”

“We still have to score the extra point,” he explained.

“But that’s only one point,” she countered, still panicked. “We’ll be tied. We can’t end in a tie. I will not accept it. We have to win this game, Bruce.”

“First, let’s release your grip on my shirt,” he suggested, forcing her fingers to relax her grip on him. “Second, we will go for a two point conversion. That will give us the lead and we will win the game.”

“You have to score the two points first,” Clark reminded him.

“Don’t worry, Kent,” Bruce confidently said. “No one does the two point conversion better than the Wildcats.”

Everyone was standing on their feet, waiting with bated breath as the Wildcats lined up for the play that would either win or lose the game. Diana absentmindedly reached out for Bruce’s hand which he kept hidden behind his back, not about to risk it. If this play was a bust, there was no telling what damage was going to be done by his Amazon princess.

Diana was whispering in Greek, words of curses on the other team or prayers for the Wildcats, he wasn’t sure, but it was amusing nonetheless. He hoped for not only his sake, but hers as well that the Wildcats pulled this off.

The quarterback caught the ball, feinting to the right before suddenly shifting to the left and racing through a small gap in the action. He crossed into the end zone, slamming the football down in excitement as his teammates all gathered around him, jumping up and down and cheering wildly.

“YES!” Diana screamed, turning and hugging Bruce. “We won!”

Bruce happily returned her embrace, but was even more pleased when she celebrated with a very sultry kiss that swiftly stole his breath. He kissed her with equal passion and desire, anxious to get home where they could continue this celebration in private.

“I can’t believe they lost,” Clark groaned as he sank into his chair, holding his head in his hands.

“You are in so much trouble, Smallville,” Lois grumbled as she began gathering up their things. “You’re taking Lara with you to the Watchtower for monitor duty.”

“Maybe I’ll take a week off this next month, take you away for a nice long vacation alone on a beach somewhere,” Bruce told Diana, kissing her again before casting a smirk at Clark. “Now that I have all of this free time, I think we should go.”

Clark just glared at them as he picked up Lara’s car seat. This was going to be the worst month of his life. “Thanks for the game,” he muttered as he made his way to the door. “It was…fun.”

“That was so awesome!” Tim said as he took a sleeping Nicholas into his arms so Alfred could get Kaia.

“It was quite the exciting game,” Alfred agreed. “I believe a celebratory breakfast is in order tomorrow morning.”

“Count us in,” Dick quickly added, turning to Donna. “Alfred makes the best breakfasts ever.”

“Did you see that last play?” Tim asked as he followed Alfred, Dick, and Donna out of the suite. “It couldn’t have ended any better.”

“So did you like your first football game, Princess?” Bruce asked, pulling Diana to a stop before leaving.

“It was very exciting,” she decided, her hands coming to rest against her husband’s chest.

“Do you know how very sexy you are when you get into the game?” he asked, his lips hovering close to hers.

“Really?”

“Most definitely,” he huskily confirmed as he captured her lips in a kiss.

“I guess we better go home and put the kids to bed so we can continue our own celebration,” she suggested.

“I love the sound of that,” Bruce murmured as he turned to lead her out of the suite.

As he left, he suddenly realized that he’d missed his chance at making a wager with the princess as well, one that would have included a personal massage, some one-on-one time…with her lasso. Of course, baseball season was right around the corner.

**THE END**


	2. Play Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce teaches Nicholas how to build the perfect snowman.

TITLE: The Wayne Family Chronicles: Play Date  
AUTHOR: LOTSlover  
CHARACTERS: Batman / Wonder Woman  
RATING: T  
WARNINGS: Author Chooses Not to Use Warnings  
DISCLAIMER: I love Justice League, but especially Batman and Wonder Woman. Unfortunately, I do not own the characters and if I did things would be much different for them.  
SUMMARY: Bruce teaches Nicholas how to build the perfect snowman.

 

**Play Date**

Bruce knelt on the floor of the library as he wrestled to put snow pants on a little boy who felt that it was far more important to wiggle and squirm as he held his stuffed bunny in one small hand, his father’s old cell phone in the other.

“Mama…mama…” he repeatedly babbled into it, hoping for a response that wasn’t going to come on a phone that no longer worked. “Ick? Ick?”

Bruce chuckled. “Sorry, Nicholas, Dick isn’t going to answer you either.”

Nicholas frowned, a bat glare that could rival his father’s forming on his face as he shook the phone in a futile attempt to make it work. “Nana?”

“No, not Donna either.”

With a huff, Bruce finally managed to get the stubborn snow pants on over Nicholas’s jeans and shirt. “There,” he muttered with satisfaction as he sat back on his heels to look down at his handiwork with extreme pride. “Are you ready to go outside and play?”

Nicholas looked up at him from his position lying on the floor, two small teeth peeking out with his adoring grin at the man he favored over everyone else in the family. All Bruce could do was chuckle again in response as his son showed him his favorite stuffed bunny. It was his son’s most prized possession in the whole world. Dick had given it to him soon after he'd been born and the two of them became nearly inseparable since.

“I’m afraid your bunny will have to stay inside or you’ll lose him in the snow, little man,” Bruce informed him.

“What are you two doing?”

Bruce looked up to see Tim standing in the doorway, a bowl of ice cream in his hands and a curious expression on his face. “I’m taking Nicholas outside to teach him how to build his first snowman.”

Tim scrunched up his nose. “I think you need to take care of something first before you do. I think Nicholas needs his diaper changed before you can take him outside.”

He groaned in frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I noticed it just before you walked in,” he replied with a heavy sigh. “Can you hand me his diaper bag?”

Tim happily grabbed the bag sitting on the floor and took it over to his father. “Whoa!” he exclaimed, turning his head away from the pair sitting on the floor. “That is ripe, man!”

“You’ve smelled much worse than this,” Bruce reminded him as he struggled to get the snow pants off. “Don’t you remember going down into the sewers after Killer Croc a couple of months ago?”

“That was nothing compared to this,” Tim maintained, rapidly waving his hand in front of his nose. “What did you feed him for lunch?”

“Just the usual,” Bruce replied, thinking back on lunch as he removed the offending diaper to clean his son up. “We had some applesauce, pureed green beans, piece of orange, half of a banana…”

“Bingo,” Tim said, cringing as he took the dirty diaper by his fingertips, holding it out away from himself.

“What do you mean ‘bingo’?” he asked, trying to corral his young son who was kicking his legs furiously in an attempt to escape another diaper.

“The banana,” Tim explained. “Mom thought it might have upset his stomach yesterday.”

Bruce gave him an incredulous look. “He seemed fine when he ate it.”

“He’s obviously not fine now if that awful smell is any indication.”

Bruce looked down on his son who was happily chewing on his bunny’s ear, his bright blue eyes staring up at his father. “I don’t think you know what you’re talking about. I’ll ask Diana about it later.”

“Where is she?” Tim asked, suddenly noticing her absence.

“She’s not back from the Watchtower yet,” he told him. “She’ll be back soon. Besides, I know what I’m doing.”

“Fine. Where’s Alfred then? We can ask him.”

“He’s out running errands,” Bruce said as he pulled Nick’s jean’s up before attempting to tackle the snow pants again. “I can handle my son myself, I’ll have you know. I’m not incompetent.”

“Oh, really?” Tim said with a chuckle. “And where's Kaia? Sleeping in the Batmobile?”

“No. She’s with Diana on the Watchtower,” Bruce revealed. “Everyone wanted to see the baby, so Diana took Kaia with her for monitor duty.”

Tim watched Bruce as he struggled to get the snow pants back on Nicholas, but the toddler was having none of it the second time around. It had suddenly become a game now. Bruce started to get one foot in a leg hole only to have Nicholas kick it free as his father started on the second leg, his giggles and squeals filling the library. 

“You know you could help instead of just standing there watching me struggle with this,” Bruce growled in frustration.

“I’m holding the dirty diaper,” Tim replied with a mischievous grin.

“Throw it out and help me,” he ground out.

“I thought you didn’t need any help, o' father of the year,” Tim teased.

“Tim!”

“Alright…alright,” the teenager groused with a roll of his eyes. “I’ll be right back.”

“Come on, Nicholas,” Bruce tried again. “Help daddy out here, buddy.”

Nicholas lifted his arms up towards his father, wanting to be held instead. “Dada…dada…”

“Here, give me the snow pants,” Tim said as he reentered the room empty-handed.

Bruce stood to his feet, handing Tim the snow pants before leaning down to pick up his youngest son. Tim held the snow pants up as Bruce worked Nicholas’s legs inside, finally pulling the straps over his shoulders.

“There,” Bruce stated with a pleased smile as his hands came to rest on his hips. “That wasn’t so bad.”

“You just better hope he doesn’t have another diaper like the last one while you’re outside,” Tim told him.

“Are you coming out with us?” Bruce asked, taking Nicholas into his arms and handing the stuffed bunny and cell phone to Tim.

“Nah, I’m hanging out in here where it’s nice and warm,” Tim said with a shake of his head. “I’ll have to be out in it long enough tonight while we’re on patrol. The snowstorm is supposed to get worse after midnight tonight.”

“Wimp,” Bruce quipped before taking Nicholas to get the rest of his winter clothes on.

XXX

Taking Nicholas’s hand, Bruce led his son outside into the freefall of fluffy white flakes. He loved the soft crunching sound of snow beneath their boots as they walked hand-in-hand. It was cold out, but not bitterly so as he took him towards the front yard.

The sky was overcast with grey clouds, snow falling steadily and creating a pristine white blanket over everything. He loved winter. It reminded him of spending time with his father outside, building snow forts and having snowball fights. They were some of his most precious memories, ones that no longer hurt quite so much to remember. Now that he had a son of his own, he was anxious to carry on the tradition with him.

He glanced down at his young son who was staring in awe of the landscape before them, causing him to smile to himself. Nicholas was almost twice his normal size with all the layers that he had bundled him up in. Between his shirt, jeans, sweatshirt, snow pants, winter coat, boot, hat, mittens, and scarf, his son had probably gained ten pounds. He could barely move, each step causing him to teeter this way and that, threatening to take him down as he tried to maneuver through the snow in boots for the first time in his young life.

His bright blue eyes peeked out from beneath his winter hat and above the scarf that Bruce had wrapped around his mouth and nose to keep him warm. The little boy tried to look up at his dad, but could barely move. He chattered something or other to him, but his words were muffled, making it even more indecipherable then they already were.

Bruce couldn’t help but laugh, the scene so comical. He almost regretted the fact that Alfred wasn’t here to get a picture of this with that damn camera he carried with him everywhere he went. Ever since Nicholas had been born, it had become a permanent appendage.

Kneeling down, he pulled Nicholas’s scarf down a little, allowing him to try to talk, not that would be able to understand him much anyway. Diana seemed to be the only one who could truly understand what he was saying or what he wanted…well, her and Alfred of course. 

He, however, was in the dark for the most part along with Tim, Dick, and Donna. He was getting a little better, though.

Nicholas held up his mitten-covered hand as the snow fell around him, completely perplexed by what this fluffy white stuff was all about. He watched as the white flakes collected on his blue mitten before suddenly disappearing right before his very eyes.

“Dada?” he mumbled in confusion, holding up his blue mitten in bewilderment.

“It’s snow, Nicholas,” Bruce told him. “It melted on you mitten. Here, watch this.”

Bruce held his tongue straight out, catching a couple of snowflakes on it, much to Nicholas’s amazement. His son giggled as he watched, trying to mimic his father by sticking his little tongue out too. Unfortunately, instead of sticking it straight out, his tongue ended up curling towards his nose.

“No, no, Nicholas,” Bruce said with a laugh. “Like this.”

Nicholas tried again, his tongue ending up down towards his chin and drool began to dribble out of the corner of his mouth. Bruce carefully used his scarf to wipe away the drool before taking his own glove off, using his thumb and forefinger to gently pull his son’s tongue straight out.

He watched with amusement as Nicholas’s brow furrowed in confusion, his eyes crossing as he tried to watch the snow collecting on his own tongue. The toddler giggled again at the feel of the cold flakes on his warm tongue, finding it funny that his father was holding his tongue out like this.

Releasing his tongue, Bruce put his glove back on before taking Nicholas’s hand again and leading him further into the deep snow. Coming to a stop, he knelt down and began to form a snowball. He handed it to Nicholas who took it into his hands in complete wonderment at what his father had just made.

He looked down at it for a moment before looking up at his father kneeling before him. He jabbered something before suddenly sticking his tongue out and licking the snow in his hands. He grinned from ear to ear with how cold it was, his eyes brightening even more with the experience before trying it again.

“You can eat it,” Bruce reassured him, taking a piece of snow and popping it into his mouth.

Nicholas looked at the white ball in his hand, tentatively bringing it to his mouth again. His little tongue snuck out to lick it again, humming as if he had just eaten a delicious treat before unexpectedly throwing it down. It landed harmlessly on the snow-covered ground between father and son, causing Nicholas to giggle in amusement.

“Do you want to make a snowman?”

“Noo…noo?” Nicholas mumbled as he looked at his father with such adoration in his eyes that it melted Bruce’s heart every single time.

“Snow,” Bruce attempted to correct him. “Can you say ‘snow’?”

“Noo?”

“Close enough,” he decided with a definitive nod of his head. “Here, let’s start with this.”

Bruce gathered up some more snow in his hands, making a ball before he began rolling it around the yard, collecting more and more snow until it grew to an acceptable size. Turning, he found Nicholas sitting in the snow, trying to pick it up with his mittens with little success. His brow was furrowed with intense concentration, the expression on his face immediately reminding Bruce of Diana when she was intently working at something. There was no denying that they were Nicholas’s parents.

He crawled over to his son, helping him up onto his feet before gathering more snow into another ball. Keeping Nicholas between him and the snowball, he put his son’s hands on it to help him begin to roll it. It took several attempts and many pauses to pick his son back up off the ground, but they eventually had a second ball of snow large enough for the middle of their snowman’s body.

Standing to his feet, Bruce took the middle ball and placed it on top of the large one he’d already made. Stepping back to survey it, he found it was leaning a little to the left, but it still wasn't bad for their first attempt at a snowman together.

Nicholas toddled over to it, patting its belly with a mitten-covered hand as he tried talking to it. “I’m afraid it can’t talk to you, Nick,” Bruce informed him.

His son turned to look at him, his blue eyes bright with wonder. His nose had already begun to run from the cold, dripping down his upper lip. Using his scarf again, Bruce wiped away the snot while silently scolding himself for forgetting to bring a handkerchief outside with them. When they were finally done, he was going to have to burn his scarf.

“Alright, time for the head,” Bruce announced, rubbing his gloves together. 

Nicholas quickly bent down, attempting to gather snow into a ball like his father had just done. Unfortunately, when he picked up what little bit of snow he’d gathered, it broke apart, dispersing in the light breeze that had suddenly appeared.

“Here, let’s do it together,” Bruce offered as he knelt down, helping to gather more snow.

Finally forming a third ball that was smaller than the second, Bruce carefully placed it on top of the other two. “What do you think, Nick?”

Nicholas tilted back to look up at the towering man of snow before him, nearly toppling backwards with the effort. He pointed and jabbered excitedly, his pink tongue sneaking out to run across his upper lip that was wet with more snot. He giggled as he suddenly threw himself back in the snow, looking up at the millions of snowflakes falling down on him.

His father’s face unexpectedly came into view as Bruce leaned over to look down at him. “Are you ready to finish our snowman?”

Nicholas held up his arms towards his father, a grin on his face. Bruce affectionately obliged by picking him up, noticing the pink flush to his son’s cheeks from the cold. Heading to the small pile of supplies he’d brought out with them, he picked out a brightly colored plaid scarf, giving one end to his son to hold as they began to wrap it around the snowman’s neck before tying it.

“Okay, what’s next?” Bruce asked his son. “Should we give him a face?”

Nicholas agreed with a babbling reply…or at least something that Bruce thought sounded like an agreement. Picking up a carrot stick, he handed it to Nicholas to stick into the snowman’s face. It took several attempts and a lot of direction, but together they finally managed to give it a nose which Nicholas found more than funny. His belly-laugh was contagious, causing Bruce to laugh as well, especially when Nicholas tried to lean in and bite the tip of the carrot off.

“No, Nicholas!” Bruce exclaimed, pulling him back. “Don’t eat his nose.”

Nicholas looked at him in confusion, pointing at it. “Num?”

“No, we’ll have a snack when we go inside,” Bruce told him, bending over to pick up two pieces of black coal. “We need eyes now.”

Bruce stepped back with Nicholas still in his arms as he studied his son’s handiwork. The right coal eye was quite a bit higher than the other and the one on the left was too close to the carrot nose, but it was where Nicholas had insisted they go so he left it as is. 

“I think our snowman needs arms, don’t you?”

Nicholas clapped his mittened hands together in excitement as they looked for a couple of long sticks. Finally finding two that would be acceptable to use, he helped Nicholas stick the branches on either side of the middle ball of snow. 

Taking some smaller pieces of coal, the pair carefully formed a smile on the snowman’s face. Stepping back again, they examined their creation with great pride, though Bruce thought it looked rather cross-eyed. Nicholas clapped and squealed at what they’d made, his hand coming to rest on his father’s face as he animatedly jabbered on, pointing at the man of snow they’d created.

“Should we give him a name?” Bruce asked him.

“Ick!” Nicholas exclaimed.

“Dick?” Bruce repeated with a chuckle. “You want to name our snowman Dick?”

Nicholas nodded his head excitedly, pointing at their creation as he repeated it. “Ick!”

“Alright, we’ll name him Dick,” he consented as he set him back down on the ground. “I just can’t wait for you to show Dick next time he comes over.”

Nicholas fell back in the snow, his little fists picking up bits of snow and throwing it up into the air causing it to sprinkle like powder sugar over him. He giggled as the mist of cold snow tickled his face, his nose continuing to run.

“Here, Nicholas,” Bruce said. “Want to make a snow angel?”

Nicholas lifted his head off the ground to look at him, a curious expression lighting his face. He watched in fascination as his father lay down in the untouched snow beside him, moving his arms and legs back and forth. He tried mimic what Bruce was doing, but couldn’t quite coordinate his arms and legs to move that way.

Bruce sat up to watch him, laughing at the piles of snow that Nicholas was making. Getting up, he picked his son, taking him over to an area of untouched snow. He carefully laid him down in the snow on his back, moving his arms and then his legs for him before picking him up again.

“See?” Bruce said, pointing at their creation in the snow. “It looks like an angel.”

“Alright, what are my boys doing out here?”

Bruce turned at the unexpected sound of Diana’s voice to find his beautiful wife standing several feet away from them. She had her boots and coat on, her raven curls cascading down over her shoulders as the snow fell around her. The smile of amusement on her lips and the bright sparkle in her eyes warmed him clear through to the tips of his toes despite the cold that bit at his skin.

“I was teaching Nicholas how to make a snowman,” he maintained as Nicholas pointed at the somewhat lop-sided mountain of snow with a scarf that sat to their left. “What do you think? Nicholas named him Dick.”

Diana tilted her head as she appraised their creation, walking towards it to inspect it better. “I think you both did a fine job, but I believe Tim and I could have done even better.”

Bruce’s eyebrow quirked in amusement. “Is that challenge, Princess?”

“Would be if I could get Tim to come out and help me build one,” she replied.

They both looked at the window to their left to find Tim standing there inside watching them, Kaia in his arms and a smug grin on his face. He watched them as he brought a mug to his lips, drinking something warm.

“You know I think we need to go in there after him and…” 

Before Bruce could finish his sentence, he was hit in the side of his head by a snowball. Nicholas giggled excitedly, his mittens rubbing at the snow that was slowly sliding down the side of his father’s face. Unamused, Bruce turned to look at a very self-satisfied Amazon princess standing there, hefting another snowball in her hand.

“You did not just do that,” Bruce accused her, setting his son down on the ground and gathering snow into a ball of his own.

“Maybe I did,” she taunted, tossing her snowball up in the air. “What are you going to do about it, Wayne?”

“I can think of quite a few things, but maybe we should discuss that later when Nicholas is not around,” he shot back with a darkening glare, throwing his snowball at her.

The Amazon warrior quickly ducked, narrowly missing being hit in the face. She swiftly turned and threw her ball, nailing her husband right in the chest. He looked up from his snow covered coat to see a devious smirk gracing his wife’s face. He suddenly found he was no longer as cold as he had been a moment ago, a warm desire seeping into his blood.

“You are in so much trouble, Princess,” he growled, a mischeivious glint in his azure eyes as he began a vicious snowball assault on his wife.

Diana shrieked as Bruce began to chase her, throwing one snowball after another. The Amazon dodged one ball of snow only to be struck by another in the shoulder. She fought the urge to take to the air as Bruce dove behind a tree, more than happy to continue the war that she had started.

Nicholas giggled and clapped his hands as he watched his parents engage in a fierce snowball fight. He tried to pick up snow with his mittens, but it disintegrated in his small hands. He squealed as his mother let loose a large snowball that broke apart against the trunk of the tree his father had suddenly ducked behind, snow exploding in a shower of white flakes.

“Mama…mama!” Nicholas cheered her on, giggling as his parents pummeled each other with snowballs.

“You are going down, Princess,” Bruce threatened her with a smirk that was incongruous to the darkening lustful glare that was focused solely on his beautiful prey.

“You have to catch me first, Wayne,” she taunted him, hinting him square in the back between the shoulder blades as he turned to avoid her attack.

Bruce quickly spun around, throwing his cold wet ammunition straight for her head. He rolled in the snow, coming up into a crouched position and ready for her retaliation. Problem was she was nowhere to be found. His brow instantly creased as he swiftly assessed his surroundings, trying to discover where she had gone.

His lips were slightly parted as he breathed heavily, clouds of vapor escaping his mouth as warm breath met cold air. He quickly glanced at his son still sitting in the snow to his right, completely absorbed in trying to pick up more snow with his mitten-covered hands in an effort to make a snowball so he could play too.

Unfortunately, that fleeting look cost him dearly as a playful Amazon suddenly came out of nowhere, flying straight at him and knocking him flat on his back in the snow. “Gotcha!” she victoriously cried as she pinned him to the ground, a mischievous grin on her face.

Stunned, Bruce could barely control himself as he stared up at his beautiful wife, her body keeping him trapped between her and the snow-covered ground. He quickly realized how warm it had become despite the cold winter day.

Large white snowflakes continued to fall down around them, collecting in her long raven hair. Her sapphire eyes were bright with mischief and something more, something dangerous and passionate and hungry as she hovered above him. Her lips were just a breath away from his, practically begging to be kissed.

“Alright, Nicholas,” Tim suddenly said, breaking the intimate moment. “I think you had better come inside before things get too out of control out here.”

Diana watched as Tim carried his little brother inside, Nicholas babbling and pointing at his snowman. She looked back down at Bruce who was staring intently at her with a look of unmistakable desire. It sent a shiver up her spine.

She leaned in, brushing her lips against his in a teasing kiss. “I win,” she murmured against his lips.

“I may be down, but I’m not out yet, Princess,” Bruce huskily teased, suddenly taking control and flipping her over onto her back and pinning her with his body.

“Maybe I wanted you on top,” she taunted as he roughly gripped her wrists and trapped them on either side of her head. “I’ve missed you today.”

Bruce growled low in his throat in response. It was her only warning before his lips crashed into hers. He kissed her hard, devouring her and wanting more, but not out here. He knew it would have to wait until later, but he couldn’t help it. She looked gorgeous lying beneath him, her ebony strands of hair spread out and contrasting with the pristine snow.

Reluctantly, he finally pulled back to sit on his heels, breathing heavily as he ran his tongue across his lips, savoring the taste of her. “Care to continue this inside?”

“I don’t know,” she thoughtfully teased. “I had other plans, but I guess I could cancel them.”

“What other plans?” he demanded to know, jealousy lacing his voice as he stared down at her.

“A cup of hot chocolate along with a nice long bubble bath,” she replied with a glint in her eyes.

“I like bubble baths and hot chocolate,” he told her as he stood to his feet, offering his hand out to her.

“Since when?” she asked as she allowed her husband to pull her up to her feet.

“Since I married an Amazon who loves luxurious baths,” he asserted, holding her hand and leading her towards the manor’s front door.

Diana unexpectedly pulled him to a stop. “What is this supposed to be?” she asked with a furrowed brow.

“That’s a snow angel,” he explained. “Haven’t you ever made a snow angel?”

“Yah, in the piles of snow we get on Themyscira each year,” she mocked him with a roll of her blue eyes.

Bruce cocked an eyebrow at her, amused and yet taken aback by her sassy response. “You have definitely been spending too much time around Dick.”

“Actually, I’ve learned it from you,” she claimed, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. “Beat you to the bathtub.”

He watched as his wife suddenly ran inside the house, a chuckle on his lips as he shook his head in amusement. Pausing at the front door, he looked back over his shoulder at the snowman that he and Nicholas had built, more than proud of the creation made by father and son. He knew that Nicholas was too young to remember this day, but it was one that he would always treasure.

He knew that his father would have loved this, playing in the snow and having snowball fights. It was one of his fondest memories growing up before that fateful day that his childhood came to a screeching halt. It caused tears to momentarily sting his eyes, but he quickly banished them, refusing to allow them to fully form.

He was not about to let anything ruin this perfect afternoon spent with Nicholas or the memories made. Besides, he had a sexy Amazon waiting for him upstairs in their bathtub…


	3. Fatherhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce spends some unexpected time with his infant daughter and ends up dreaming about the future.

Fatherhood

Batman wiped the rain and snow mix from his cowled face as he sank back into the seat of the Batmobile with a weary sigh. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes for a second, savoring the quiet moment of rest.

It had started out as another long night of rescues and crime fighting, but the severe thunder snowstorms that had rolled into Gotham had helped deter things somewhat, virtually bringing the city to a grinding halt. Not even criminals liked to be caught out in a storm like this.

He had been ten years old when he had witnessed his first thunder snowstorm, the unusual weather occurrence intriguing him. He had stood out in the cold for well over an hour before Alfred had finally forced him back inside to sit by the fire with a mug of hot chocolate in order to warm up. 

Even now, he found the formidable weather hitting Gotham tonight to be fascinating.

“Batman.”

The Dark Knight’s gauntleted hand slipped to his commlink as he started up the car. “Batman here,” he rasped darkly. “Are you heading in?”

“Yah, I just finished up on the west end,” Robin informed him. “I’m heading home.”

“Good,” Batman stated. Despite the typical dark rasp of his voice, his fatigue was more than evident. “I’m coming in now too.”

“The storms really slowed down what was turning out to be another busy night,” Robin said. “I think we could both stand a few extra hours of sleep tonight.”

“It wouldn’t hurt after the long nights we’ve pulled over the last week,” Batman agreed.

“I’ll see you back at the cave. Robin out.”

Batman gripped the steering wheel as he quickly tore off into the night, the engine’s powerful roar drowned out by the endless rolls of thunder. He had to admit the thought of actually sleeping for more than just a couple of hours at a time sounded like paradise at that moment. 

The last week had been a non-stop rollercoaster of crime fighting both in Gotham and with the Justice League, coming in after the sun had begun to rise only to leave again a few hours later. He’d tried to send Robin in early a couple of those nights to get some much needed sleep, but he wouldn’t leave him to finish patrol alone. 

Batman smirked to himself. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t been patrolling alone for years before Dick had become the first Robin. For some reason, though, Tim refused to acknowledge that fact, choosing rather to ignore Bruce’s orders to go home.

His mind abruptly turned from Gotham to the one who was never far from his thoughts, always lingering there in the outskirts of his mind and ready to steal his focus. In the beginning, it had been difficult to acknowledge let alone accept that he had allowed something other than Gotham to occupy his thoughts.

Now, though, she was his lover, his wife…his partner. She was an ever-present part of him just as he was a part of her too. Diana becoming a part of him had been as natural to him as breathing itself. It was as if this was the way that it was always meant to be—sharing the same heart, the same mind and soul. 

He had never believed in the notion of soul-mates, but being with Diana had definitely made him question that belief.

As he sped through the night, Bruce suddenly realized that he was smiling, his lips curled into a grin. It amazed him how much happiness someone could actually bring to his life and it had only multiplied a thousand times over with the birth of Nicholas and most recently Kaia.

His life was finally complete in every way imaginable. He would do everything in his power to protect the family that he had now and he knew Diana would fight just as fiercely.

Thinking of her, he couldn’t help the faint quiver of worry that rippled through him. Though she denied it, he knew that she had gotten even less sleep than he had over this last week. Between endless missions and taking care of Kaia who had been sick recently with a cold, Diana was about to drop from exhaustion herself despite being a Meta.

She tried to hide it from him, but he could see it in those blue eyes that he loved to drown himself in. He had attempted to get her to sleep only to receive a smile and a reassurance that she was fine. He knew otherwise, though. No one knew her better than him and no one ever would as far as he was concerned.

Pulling into the Batcave, he turned the engine off, climbing out of the Batmobile in time to see Tim coming out from the showers dressed for bed. “That was the best hot shower I think that I’ve ever had,” Tim told him.

“Don’t tell me you used all the hot water,” Bruce replied with a frown as he removed his cowl, running his fingers back through his short black hair before removing his gauntlets.

“Nah, I saved you a little,” Tim teased with a grin, his wet hair sticking up at odd angles.

“Sleep in tomorrow,” Bruce ordered him. “I want you to take the day off from everything including patrol. I won’t risk you getting sick by overdoing it.”

“Oh, come on!” Tim whined in stunned disbelief. “I’ll be fine to go out tomorrow night. Besides, I can’t even remember the last time I got sick.”

“Try last Thanksgiving.”

Tim suddenly became sheepish, averting his eyes to avoid the intense knowing look being leveled on him by his surrogate father. “It was just a little cold.”

“It was a cold that turned into bronchitis and three days straight in bed,” Bruce reminded him. “You’re just lucky it didn’t turn into pneumonia. I’m not about to let that happen again.”

“You worry too much,” Tim insisted with a scowl as he made his way to the stairs, already plotting ways to change Bruce’s mind tomorrow.

“It’s my job,” he bluntly stated as he headed towards the showers. “Good night.”

Bruce caught a grumbled “good night” followed by stomping footsteps that gradually diminished as Tim eventually entered the manor. He knew he’d be in for another argument tomorrow night with the stubborn teenager, but he was more than prepared for it. Besides, Bruce knew the only person more stubborn than himself was Diana who would no doubt back him up on this if the teenager sought her out for support.

Bruce sank down on a bench in the changing area of the cave with a low drawn-out groan, winching as he began the task of removing his uniform. His left shoulder had stiffened considerably since leaving for patrol tonight, causing pain to radiate into his pectoral muscles. 

Of course, it was nothing compared to the large bruise that had formed over his ribs on the right side. One of Two Face’s thugs had gotten a lucky shot in with a steel pipe three nights ago and he was still reaping the rewards of that foolish mistake.

Diana had been upset when she had seen it, his attempt at humor falling flat when he’d told her she should’ve seen the other guy. She had launched into a scathing lecture about how just because he was immortal now didn’t mean that he was invincible which was rather ironic seeing how he had been delivering the exact same speech to her for the last few years.

He smirked to himself as he remembered how he had finally gotten her to stop with a searing kiss that had rendered her completely speechless. It had turned into a very passionate night, one that had meant less sleep, but it had been more than worth it.

If he wasn’t so exhausted now, he’d love nothing more than to go upstairs for a repeat performance with her. Unfortunately, he and Diana needed sleep tonight more than sex although it was growing more and more debatable the longer he thought about it.

Banishing the lustful thoughts from his mind, he finished stripping off his uniform before stepping into the steaming hot shower. He felt the stress of the night begin to wash away, helping to soothe his sore muscles. As much as he wanted to just stay here for a while, he was becoming more than anxious to curl up in bed next to his wife. His hunger for more with her would have to wait until morning.

Exiting the shower, he dried off before slipping into grey shorts and a t-shirt. Walking by his desk, he paused for a moment, contemplating the work that still needed his attention. He knew he really should stay up and file his reports for the night, but the pull of sleep and Diana was far too strong to ignore any longer.

Stifling a yawn, he ascended the stairs into the manor, the stillness of the night abruptly interrupted by endless rumbles of thunder. Flashes of lightning lit up the house only to disappear just as quickly as it had appeared. He made his way upstairs to the second floor, pausing outside of his son’s room to check on him. He knew if he didn’t, Nicholas would escape his crib and come looking for him later in his bed.

Bruce silently opened the door to find Nicholas fast asleep. Coming to stand beside his crib, he smiled as he watched his son sleep, his favorite bunny clutched protectively against his chest. He leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, gently stroking his dark hair that was so much like his own.

“Dada,” Nicholas mumbled in his sleep along with other words that Bruce couldn’t begin to interpret except for an occasional “bunny” coming through clearly.

It never ceased to amaze him how Nicholas instinctively knew that Bruce was there even in his sleep. He didn’t know if it was part of the gifts that had been imparted to him by Diana’s gods or if it was just a heightened perception that was unique to his son.

Bruce was pulled from his musings by the sudden sound of Kaia crying. He quickly made his way to his daughter’s room across the hall, wanting to get to her before Diana woke up. After being up with Kaia for the last several nights, Diana was in dire need of sleep especially since she refused to take a couple of days off from the League until things had settled down again at home.

Entering Kaia’s room, he was immediately greeted by the pink cheerfulness that Diana had chosen for the walls of their daughter’s room. It always put an amused smile on his face. It was just so Diana in every way and therefore Kaia who was already so much like her mother. He couldn’t be happier about it.

His two month old daughter was wailing up a storm, her little face red and wrinkled up into a fierce scowl. He picked her up, holding her against his chest and gently patting her back. She sniffed as she immediately cuddled up against her father, melting into him as she continued to cry her complaints in the only way that an infant could.

Bruce carried her over to the changing table, removing her wet diaper and replacing it with a clean one, hoping that would help settle her. Unfortunately, thunder and lightning cracked loudly again causing her to cry even louder this time.

“So that’s it, little princess,” he softly cooed in realization as he picked her, grabbing her favorite pink blanket that Shayera had gotten for her. “You’re afraid of the storm.”

Kaia sniffled and whimpered in response as if confirming his supposition, burying her tear-streaked face in the crook of her father’s neck. He patted her back soothingly as he carried her downstairs so as not to wake Diana, Tim, or Nicholas. He stopped by the kitchen to pick up a bottle for her, warming it up in the microwave before taking her to the library.

Settling on the leather couch, he offered her the bottle which she eagerly took. “And obviously hungry too,” he commented with a smile as he gazed at the beautiful creation in his arms that he and Diana had made.

Even two months after her birth, Kaia still never ceased to amaze him, this precious little bundle of pink that had stolen his heart with her very first cry upon entering the world. He still shuddered inside as he thought back on that night, the night that his daughter had been born while his wife was dying right there before his very eyes.

It still made him ill to his core just thinking about it, remembering how Diana had been struggling and fighting for every single breath as she lay there bleeding. His heart had never felt such tremendous agony and, at same time, such overwhelming joy in his entire life as he had held his newborn daughter in his arms.

Bruce couldn’t help but smile at Kaia who was staring intently at him with those big blue eyes…eyes that were the shade of blue as her mother’s. She looked so very much like Diana in almost every way. He couldn’t help but imagine that this was what Diana had looked like as a baby. Of course, it wasn’t like there were any baby pictures taken on Themyscira so he’d have to go by Kaia.

His daughter reached up to touch his hand that held her bottle. Bruce held out his pinkie, her tiny fingers wrapping around it. She kicked her legs as she sucked down the contents of her bottle, watching every move her father made with great interest.

Even at two months old, her grip was incredibly strong despite being smaller than Nicholas when he’d been born. He wondered what kind of special gifts would eventually be bestowed upon her. She had already blessed by Aphrodite, the concept still causing his stomach to twist into knots as it was without having her blessed in other ways.

Although, he’d have absolutely nothing to worry about if she gained her mother’s strength. “If anyone ever tries to lay a finger on you, Kaia, you have my permission to break their hand,” he told her.

Kaia answered by kicking her legs again, totally mesmerized by her father as she tried to reach up and touch his face. Bruce leaned over, kissing the palm of her small hand, pretending to eat her fingers. She smiled momentarily before sucking greedily on her bottle again, finishing it quickly as she raised her hand once more.

Bruce set her bottle aside as he held her up, holding her against his chest and patting her back. Thunder suddenly crashed loudly causing her to cry as she pressed her face into his shoulder. He wrapped her blanket a little tighter around her, bouncing her lightly as he leaned back against the pillows.

He stretched his long legs out with a grunt of pain from the injuries he’d received during the week, taking over the full length of the couch as he settled in for the night. He laid Kaia face down on his chest, allowing her to stretch out.

She raised her head to look at him, completely captivated as her father rubbed her back, speaking reassuring words to her. “I will always protect you, little princess,” he promised her, his eyes shining with absolute adoration. “You never have to be afraid.”

Kaia made a cooing sound as if trying to tell him something, causing Bruce to chuckle softly. She cooed again, the feel of her father’s rumbling laughter in his chest vibrating through her. She smiled and kicked her legs as she reached out her little fingers to grab at Bruce’s lips, wanting him to nibble on her fingers again.

Bruce laughed at the unexpected sound that escaped Kaia’s lips as he kissed her fingers. “You might look just like your mother, but I have a feeling you’re going to be a night owl just like your father.”

Nicholas looked just like Bruce had as a child, but his son was already displaying many of his mother’s traits even though he was only a year and a half old. “If you turn out to be just like me, your mother could end up having a nervous breakdown.”

Kaia only smiled as Bruce continued to talk to her until she finally relaxed against his chest, turning her head and closing her eyes. It wasn’t long before she was fast asleep again despite the low rumbles of thunder that continued to roll across the sky, the occasional lightning strikes that illuminated the dimly lit room.

Bruce didn’t think that life could possibly get any better than this as he watched his little girl sleep, the soft sounds of her congested snoring filling the room. He couldn’t help wondering what the future held for both Kaia and Nicholas, resolving once again to do whatever it took to ensure they would not have to continue the fight that required so much of their parents’ attention and time.

Thoughts of his children lingered in his mind as sleep finally claimed him as well, his hand resting protectively on his daughter’s back as the storm continued to rage outside.

XXX

_Batman walked through the corridors of the Watchtower, a definite destination in mind— the commissary. He had no doubt that would be the where he would find who was looking for. He had heard from Diana how the mission had gone and he was determined to make sure something like that never happened again._

_The commissary doors swooshed open upon his approach, his dark gaze already searching the large room for the two superheroes who were about to be on the receiving end of a scathing lecture about protocol and following orders._

_Finally spotting the object of his anger, he silently stalked towards the unsuspecting pair sitting in the far corner together eating and laughing about something or other. Little did they know their laughter was about to come to an unexpected end._

_Silverhawk looked up to see the Dark Knight coming towards them, his smile quickly fading away. He stiffened at the sight of him, knowing by the look on Batman’s face that this was not going to be a very pleasant meeting._

_The panicked look on Silverhawk’s face alerted Skylark to the fact that trouble was rapidly approaching. Turning, she suddenly knew why. In fact, she had been anticipating this confrontation. They both had._

_“What the hell were two thinking?” Batman growled._

_“Hi, Batman,” Skylark sheepishly greeted him, turning back to her lunch tray. “Care to join us?”_

_“Yah, pull up a chair and join us,” Silverhawk agreed, feeling the sudden tension that accompanied the Dark Knight’s arrival._

_Batman sat down with a scowl firmly fixed on his lips. “I thought I had told the two of you to observe only,” he flatly stated without preamble, keeping his voice low. “Do not engage any villains.”_

_“It wasn’t our fault,” Silverhawk claimed as he sank back in his chair with a scowl that matched his father’s sitting to his left. He folded his arms across his chest as he released a huff of frustration. “Flash and Green Lantern were in trouble. You can’t expect us to just sit back and do nothing when we could be helping.”_

_“Yah, dad,” Skylark interjected, immediately clapping her hand over her mouth, her next words coming out muffled. “I mean Batman.”_

_“I specifically told you both not to get involved,” Batman continued, ignoring Kaia’s slip of the tongue. “You were to observe only, nothing more. You promised me that you would follow my rules if I let you two join the League.”_

_“Come on, Dad,” Silverhawk snapped. “Kai and I are both fine. In fact, we helped stop what could have been a huge disaster.”_

_Batman drew a deep shuddering breath as he fought back the flash of panic that still hummed inside of him. “I never said that I wasn’t proud of the two of you,” he softly said. “You showed remarkable courage and presence of mind in a very dangerous situation. Your mother and I couldn’t be more proud of you both.”_

_Nicholas and Kaia both sat in stunned silence, touched by their father’s praise. They had expected something far worse from their father for disobeying his orders. “Thanks, daddy,” Kaia softly replied._

_“Yah, Dad,” Nicholas chimed in. “Thanks.”_

_Batman stood to his feet, the palms of his hands coming to rest on the top of the table as he leaned in. “Having said that, you’re both grounded from the League for the next two weeks.”_

_“What?” Nicholas cried. “But you just said that we did a great job.”_

_Kaia quickly grew angry, her temper inherited from her mother. “I thought you said you were proud of us!”_

_“I am very proud of both of you, but you ever disobey my orders again, I will personally kick you out of the League myself,” he stated, his tone leaving no room for argument._

_“That is wack, man,” Nicholas grumbled under his breath as he shoved his lunch tray away from him._

_“So we were supposed to just sit back and let them get hurt or possibly die?” Kaia demanded to know, her anger growing hotter._

_“You were supposed to follow protocol for rookie Leaguers on a probationary period and call for back up, not get involved,” Batman reminded them. “It could have led to even more trouble if you two had been injured or captured.”_

_“That’s bullsh—” Kaia began to spout off._

_“Skylark,” Batman’s dark warning voice cut her off._

_“Sorry,” Kaia mumbled just as darkly._

_Batman straightened up, folding his arms against his chest. “You’re also both to report to the Javelin Bay.”_

_“For flight training?” Nicholas asked with sudden excitement as he quickly straightened up in his seat._

_“No,” Bruce replied with a slight curling of the corner of his mouth. “You two are going to clean the Javelins. I want them immaculate inside and out.”_

_“Ah, man,” Nicholas muttered with a scowl._

_“Harsh, Dad,” Kaia snapped. “Very harsh.”_

_“You chose to disobey my rules after promising to follow them,” Batman reminded them. He turned to leave, pausing before adding over his shoulder, “don’t forget supper at seven. Don’t be late.”_

_The sound of his children’s complaining reached his ears as he walked away, heading straight for his princess who was waiting just inside the commissary doors. “How did they take it?”_

_“Outraged,” he replied with a smirk. “Kaia is taking it harder than Nicholas, but she has your temper you know.”_

_“I know,” Diana admitted with a sigh. “You remind me of it all the time.”_

_“Come,” he told her. “Since the kids will be occupied for the whole afternoon, we’ll be free to do what we want.”_

_Diana fell into step beside him, a smile gracing her lips. “Just what did you have in mind, Dark Knight?”_

_“Meet me in my quarters and I’ll show you,” he flirted._

_Diana shook her head as she chuckled softly. “I like the sound of that.”_

XXX

Diana silently descended the stairs as she tied her satin robe closed. She had woken up to check on Kaia only to find her baby missing. She was certain another member of the Wayne family had her, but she wanted to make sure just the same.

Kaia was finally recovering from the nasty cold that she’d had over the last week, but Diana still wouldn’t rest easy until her daughter was well again despite J’onn and Leslie’s reassurances that she would be fine now.

Approaching the library, Diana came to a stop in the doorway when she noticed Bruce asleep on the couch with their daughter fast asleep on his chest. An adoring smile touched her lips as tears priced her eyes at the sight before her.

She had always known in her heart that Bruce would be an amazing father if just given the chance and he hadn’t proven her wrong. It had only caused her to fall even deeper in love with him than she had ever thought possible.

This family…this life that they had made together meant everything in this world to her and there was nothing that she wouldn’t do to protect them at all cost.

Diana made her way towards them, imprinting this moment in her mind. She leaned over, pressing her lips to Bruce’s forehead before carefully picking Kaia up. Bruce stirred as he felt the weight lifted from his chest, mumbling something about grounding their children and her wearing a red lacy negligee.

He forced his eyes open to find himself staring up into Diana’s angelic face. “Care to join me in bed?” she softly offered.

“I’d love to,” he sleepily murmured as he sat up, tilting his head side to side to stretch out his neck. He looked down to notice the wet drool spot on his shirt that Kaia had given him. With any luck, he wouldn’t be wearing his shirt for much longer.

Carrying a sleeping Kaia in her arms, Diana glanced back over her shoulder at her husband who was following her now. “What were you dreaming about?”

“Kaia and Nicholas were teenagers and had joined the League,” he confessed.

“Oh, Hera,” she said with an amused giggle. “I can only imagine how much of an ulcer you’ll have if that ever happens.”

“It wasn’t good, but I did manage to dream up a good punishment if they ever break the rules,” he replied.

“And what else were you dreaming about?” Diana coyly asked as she laid Kaia down in her crib before turning to leave her daughter’s room.

Bruce took her by the hand, leading her towards their bedroom. “Come with me and I’ll show you,” he said with a smirk.


	4. Rendezvous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Diana can’t seem to find a moment alone without taking drastic measures.

Rendezvous

To say that Bruce Wayne was frustrated could feasibly be considered the grandest understatement of the century. His body was strung tight with a need for release that had been denied him for far too long, his every muscle tense with annoyance.

He was growing more petulant by the day, mostly due to running almost constantly for well over two weeks straight now. Between Gotham at night, Wayne Enterprises by day and Justice League missions somehow managing to fall somewhere in between, he had barely seen his wife over that two week plus stretch except for kisses shared in passing which had been the ultimate cause for his brewing frustration.

Even though it had only been over two weeks, it felt like it had been ten years since he’d seen her or gotten to touch her the way that he longed to. Attending founder’s meetings with her wasn’t helping either, sitting right there beside her and not being able to kiss her was killing him inside.

He swore if he didn’t see her soon he was going to explode or lose his mind—whichever came first. And that this point, either sounded perfectly acceptable compared to the way he was feeling, which was like a spring wound tight enough to snap.

Unfortunately, it was the criminals that had been the ones to pay the price for his lack of alone time with Diana. They had been on the receiving end of his aggravation that was only growing by the moment. Right now, though, it was his computer in the Batcave that was taking the full brunt of his annoyance as he angrily punched at the keys.

His only saving grace had been the fact that he’d managed to carve out time here and there to spend with his children which to him was a necessity. Diana and his kids were his life, kept him going in this never ending circle of chaos and was his source of true happiness.

Since the moment he had found out that Diana was pregnant with his child, he had sworn to himself that absolutely nothing was going to keep him from spending time with his children—not Wayne Enterprises, not Gotham or his mission and not the Justice League. He wasn’t going to fail them like he felt he had failed Dick and Tim.

Nothing was more important to him than his family and right now he was in desperate need of seeing his wife. She kept him sane, providing him with an endless source of strength. Without her, he knew he couldn’t survive for long.

They had at last found some much needed time to themselves three nights ago after putting Nicholas to bed. It was only a couple of hours before he needed to get ready for patrol, but it was far more than they’d had in over two and a half weeks. 

Things had just started getting heated in their bedroom, hungry kisses exchanged during a frantic search for buttons and belt buckles when both of their Justice League communicators had abruptly gone off, blaring in their ears and rapidly cooling things off between them before they had barely gotten started.

He had vehemently cursed Killer Croc and the other Meta villains that he’d enlisted in his bank robbery all the way to New York City, angry with the Meta crocodile for interrupting his evening with his wife. He’s made sure that the felons had felt every single bit of his mounting aggression. 

Now, though, he was more than determined to fix it soon. 

His princess was due to return from a charity planning meeting any time now and he was going to make damned sure that he was going to get some long overdue sex with his wife. He was desperate for her touch, longed to feel her amazing body rubbing so sensually against his, lips and tongues battling for control as passion fully ignited.

Bruce groaned to himself with the sexual thoughts inundating him at that moment, pinching the bridge of his nose in an effort to regain some semblance of self-control. He was getting no relief thinking about their last encounter.

He knew that Diana was feeling the effects of their lack of sex too, her own level of frustration matching his, at least according to the Man of Steel. Clark had come to him yesterday concerned that something was wrong with Diana. Evidently, she had been less than patient lately with the rookies that she had been assigned to train for the past week, practically running them into the ground and causing some to duck for cover every time she entered a room.

Clark had been worried that Bruce had been influencing her too much, fearing that she was growing as ill-tempered and waspish as the famous hostile Batman was known to be. Bruce had reassured him that they had both been under a lot of stress lately and that he would personally see to it that she got a chance to work out all of her tension, causing the bashful reporter to blush brightly.

Sitting back in his chair, Bruce released a weary sigh. He knew it wasn’t just the physical aspect of their relationship that he missed or that his body was craving. He really missed _her_. He was lonely for her, missed her smile and laughter, the way her cobalt blue eyes sparkled like diamonds. He missed the sound of her voice and the sexy way that she tucked her hair behind her ear. 

He longed to just feel her in his arms, her breath warm against his neck and her intoxicating scent overwhelming his senses. He ached to kiss her sweet lips, to hold her close and talk long into the wee hours of the morning like they sometimes did when he’d return from patrol.

He had never been one to talk or to share his heart with anyone, but for some reason, she made him want to talk to her. He felt the need sometimes to tell her things that he normally would never have told anyone before she had come into his life.

She had definitely changed him for the better.

“Bruce, are you down here?”

The melodious sound of her voice cut through the dank gloominess of the cave, causing him to sit up straight. The corners of his lips quickly curved into an almost predatory smile as his fingers wrapped tightly around the arms of his chair.

She was here. Finally.

His body was already beginning to thrum in anticipation at the thought of kissing her senseless, removing her clothes and kissing her breasts until she writhed beneath him. “I’m here,” he called back with barely contained excitement.

He couldn’t decide what he wanted to do first—kiss her until both of them were gasping for air or rip her clothes off her body and just go straight for the goods. Both sounded extremely appealing at that point as he weighed his numerous options.

Did he want to tackle her right there at his desk, pinning her to the keyboard and taking her with their clothes on or should he be the gentleman and take her back upstairs to their bedroom? He guessed that he could also take her to the back, throw her down on the medical table and just pounce on her right there.

So many options and so little time to decide as the sound of her footsteps grew louder.

His mind was literally racing with the possibilities and scenarios, each one sounding better and more intriguing than the last, causing him to grow harder by the second. Fantasies of every kind, even ones yet to be fully explored or even given voice to were swarming in his brain and overwhelming him with the lust teeming within and begging for release.

Bruce glanced down to find his knuckles were white from the death-grip he held on his chair. His breathing was already beginning to grow a little ragged, his heart racing a little faster. His mouth was dry as a desert as he imagined her tongue warring with his, each fighting for control.

“I’ll be right up,” Diana called.

Wait…what?

“Bruce, Kaia is crying,” she told him, regret lacing her voice. “I’ll be right back.”

“No…no, no…no!” Bruce muttered, his voice growing louder as he sank back into his large chair in defeat. 

He tilted his head back in irritation, squeezing his eyes closed against the arousal already pumping through his veins knowing that his wife was home now. He couldn’t bear it one more minute as he leapt to his feet and stalked towards the stairs that would take up into the manor and to his wife.

Nothing was keeping him from what he wanted now—not the children, not Alfred or Tim, not Dick or Donna, not Gotham and definitely not the League. Unless the world was on the verge of utter collapse, they could all just wait until he had gotten what he wanted most at that moment.

Making his way through the manor, Bruce ignored the confused expression that Alfred gave him as he paused in his cleaning to stare at the younger man who appeared to be in quite the mood yet again today. The British butler smirked to himself, shaking his head in amusement as he replaced the vase on the end table he had just dusted.

He had an inkling about what the upheaval in two of his favorite people was all about. It was painfully obvious that they were both suffering from lack of private time together. He had considered offering to babysit the children or make sure that they had several hours of uninterrupted time, but he thought it best if the pair figured it out for themselves. 

They were going to have to learn how to juggle married life with all of their other various duties and responsibilities. He was more than certain that they would eventually find a way to work things out in more ways than just one.

However, if things didn’t get resolved soon between the two, he was more than prepared to step in and take matters into his own hands for all of their sanities’ sake.

XXX

Diana laid Kaia down on the changing table in the nursery, an affectionate smile gracing her lips despite the tension storming inside of her. She had never known such love until she had children of her own, the kind of love that only a mother could truly feel.

“What’s wrong, my little sun and stars?” Diana softly cooed to her daughter. “I hope nothing that a clean diaper can’t fix. I’ve hardly gotten to see your father over the last two weeks. If it don’t get to see him soon, your mommy is going to destroy something and it won’t be very pretty.”

Kaia looked up at her mother as she talked so sweetly to her, reaching up with her tiny hand towards Diana’s face and not understanding a single word she was saying. She whimpered as she kicked her legs, her cheeks wet with so many tears.

Diana kissed Kaia’s tiny fingers, nearly jumping out of her skin when strong arms abruptly circled her waist. “Bruce,” she scolded in annoyance. “You know I hate it when you sneak up on me like that.”

Bruce just grinned devilishly from behind her, burying his face in her long hair and breathing deeply. Her amazing scent only served to heighten his desire even more, adding to his bubbling frustration. “I’ve missed you so much,” he rasped deeply, his voice heady with need sending a shiver of arousal up Diana’s spine. “I’m going to lose my mind if I don’t get you alone soon.”

Diana gasped sharply as he pushed her hair aside, his mouth latching ravenously onto her neck. Her eyes fell closed as excitement shot through her like a bolt of electricity. One hand steadied her daughter, her other reaching up to hold the back of Bruce’s head.

“Bruce…the baby…” she somehow managed to remind him.

Bruce pulled back to look over Diana’s shoulder at his daughter. He smiled at Kaia who was staring curiously up at her parents, her tiny fist finding her mouth. “Hi, princess,” he said. “Can I borrow your mother for a couple of hours…or maybe days?”

Kaia only gurgled and drooled in response, her little face squishing up with a building wail of protest causing Diana’s heart to sink in disappointment. “She’s hungry, Bruce. I need to feed her now. We’ll have to wait.”

Bruce’s shoulders slumped as he pressed his forehead against the back of Diana’s head, his arms still wrapped possessively around her slim waist. A low growl rumbled deep in his chest and vibrated through her. She felt his frustration, shared it.

“Give me half an hour and then I promise I am all yours for as long as you have before patrol,” she told him.

“I don’t think I’m going to last that long, Princess,” he confessed, his voice husky with need. “I guess since it is our daughter I’ll have to make do, but then you are mine to do with as I please.”

His flirtatious words scraped across her skin as sure as his teeth soon would be doing. It did nothing to help settle her own arousal that was pulsating hotly within her as she finished redressing her daughter. “Kaia, my little girl, you need to eat very quickly for mommy,” Diana instructed her as she picked her daughter up.

Bruce chuckled as he released his hold on his wife. “Kaia, help your father out here. I’ll buy you anything you want. How about a gold plated pacifier or how do you feel about diamond earrings?”

“Bruce,” Diana chided him with a laugh as she carried Kaia to the rocking chair as she began unbuttoning the front of her dress. “You know you can stay and keep me company if you want.”

Bruce looked away as she began to unhook her nursing bra, keeping his focus on the wall of the nursery instead. “Normally, I would in a heartbeat, but I can’t even handle watching you undress right now,” he admitted. “If I see much more skin, Kaia will have to get in line for a chance with you.”

Diana couldn’t contain her giggle as she began to feed her daughter. “You really have missed me, haven’t you?”

“You have no idea, but you’re about to find out how much as soon as Kaia’s done,” he told her. “I hope that’s not one of your favorite dresses because once I get my hands on you it might not survive.”

“If it’s any conciliation, I was thinking the same thing about your pants,” she revealed with a teasing smirk.

Bruce groaned, rubbing his face with his hands. “Diana, you’re not helping matters any by telling me that.”

“I’m just saying you’re not the only one struggling here,” she said with a shrug. “It’s been a very long two weeks.”

“Two weeks, three days, fifteen hours,” he immediately replied, casting a glance at her only to look away just as quickly to stare at the wall again. Seeing her breast feeding their infant daughter was only inflaming his desire even more.

Diana’s laughter filled the room again. “You’re not keeping track of the minutes?”

“No, because if I had my way we’d be taking care of our dilemma right now,” he stoically maintained, growing more anxious by the moment. “Is she done yet?”

“Bruce, she just started,” she replied, amused by the precarious state he was obviously in.

She’d never seen him quite like this before. They had always had a very active sex life, sharing an incredible passion that never faded, devouring her like a dying man with his last meal, but this was beyond even that. He looked like he was about to climb the walls if he didn’t get some relief soon.

She felt guilty for ignoring her husband’s needs for so long, but it wasn’t like she hadn’t been suffering too, feeling the effects of the lack of intimacy with him lately. The last two and a half weeks had been hectic to say the least, one chaos after another stealing their time and adding to their already stressful lives. She had missed him greatly, needing more than just a fleeting touch or a passing kiss.

She allowed her eyes to roam over his perfect form, drinking in the way that his muscular back was evident even beneath the dress shirt that he wore as he stood there with his hands on his hips. She admired the way his dress pants hung from his waist, the firm backside that taunted her even now.

“Princess,” Bruce called to her.

Diana was pulled from her lustful thoughts with the baritone voice that always sent a flutter through her. “What?” she innocently asked as she looked up to meet his eyes that were now trained on her. A knowing smirk tugged at the corners of his mouth which was not helping her in the least at that moment.

“See something you want?” he flirted.

“Always,” she responded. “Do you?”

He drew a shuddering breath as she propped Kaia up against her chest and patted her back, leaving her exposed breast on display for him. His mouth watered with an overwhelming urge to taste her. She affected him like no other woman he had ever known.

“Always,” he roughly teased.

Diana smiled, raking her teeth over bottom lip as she stood up to carry Kaia to her crib, laying her now sleeping daughter down. She began refastening her bra as she turned around only to have her hands pushed away.

“Don’t bother, Princess,” he muttered as his lips met hers in a heated kiss.

Her arms laced around his neck as she lost herself in the passionate exchange. It was at that moment, though, that a familiar cry began to fill their ears, cutting through the rapidly building need. Bruce swore under his breath as he broke the kiss, Diana’s head falling back in frustration as Greek curses escaped her lips.

“Maybe he’ll go back to sleep if we just ignore it,” Bruce suggested.

Diana looked at the clock hanging on the wall as she fixed her bra and began buttoning her dress much to Bruce’s dismay. “It is the time he usually wakes up from his afternoon nap,” she reminded him.

“I’ll go check on him,” Bruce offered. “Just meet me in our bedroom in five minutes.”

“Don’t keep me waiting, Mister Wayne,” she flirted as she left Kaia’s bedroom.

Bruce released a long sigh was he watched her leave, thanking each and every one of her gods that she was wearing a dress. He didn’t want anything slowing him down or getting in his way once he got her behind closed doors.

He pushed the erotic thoughts aside to go check on his son, entering to find Nicholas standing up in his crib. Tears were rolling down his face, his bunny clutched tightly in his hand. He instantly reached out his arms toward his father, his eyes brightening at the sight of him as he sniffled.

“Dada,” he whimpered mournfully.

“Hey, little man,” Bruce greeted him as he reached into the crib and picked his son up. “Did you have a bad dream?”

Nicholas instantly snuggled into his father’s comforting embrace. “Dada…coo-coo.”

“You want a cookie?” he asked, pleased that he was getting better at deciphering his son’s words. “I guess it is time for your snack.”

Patting his back, he carried Nicholas downstairs to the kitchen while thoughts of his Amazonian wife waiting for him upstairs continued to linger in his mind. He headed towards the cookie jar, Nicholas’s eyes immediately lighting up.

“Let’s see what Papa Alfred has waiting in here for you.” Bruce lifted the lid of the cookie jar only to be greeted by the heavenly smell of chocolate and peanut butter.

Nicholas began humming as he bounced excitedly in Bruce’s arms. “Coo-coo!” Nicholas babbled, already reaching out to grab the large cookie Bruce pulled out.

“I thought I heard my little cookie monster in my kitchen,” Alfred teased as he entered.

“Papa,” Nicholas squealed, holding up the large cookie in victory. “Coo-coo.”

Alfred chuckled affectionately at the little boy who was like his very own grandson, taking him from Bruce’s arms. “I see you found the cookies I made especially for you this morning.”

“You never used to make me special treats like that,” Bruce pointed out, folding his arms against his chest in mock jealousy.

“I tried, but you failed to eat them so I gave up,” Alfred replied, taking Nicholas to the refrigerator to get some milk. “I believe that Master Nicholas and I are quite content if you would like to find Miss Diana now.”

“Alfred, you are a lifesaver.”

“You know I am always more than happy to help with the children, Master Bruce,” Alfred reminded him.

“I know, but we don’t want to take advantage of you, Alfred. You already do so much as it is just keeping this household running and everyone on track.”

“That’s what family is for, Master Bruce,” Alfred said with a warm smile as he settled down on a barstool with a contented Nicholas on his lap.

Bruce returned the smile, sharing the sentiment. “And you are very much at the center of the family.”

Alfred grew misty-eyed before clearing his throat of the emotion that had settled there. “I believe there is a beautiful Amazon waiting for you upstairs, Master Bruce.”

Bruce’s smile turned lustful as he quickly fled the kitchen, a certain destination in mind. He raced towards the ornate staircase that would take him to his waiting wife and the divine release that he was in desperate need of.

Reaching out to grab the newel post, he bounded up the steps like a man possessed, more than determined to get what he wanted. Nothing was going to stand in his way now. Both children were occupied and his wife was in their bed awaiting his arrival, just as desperate for him as he was for her. It only served to fuel his desire.

“Bruce!”

Damn.

“What?” Bruce yelled in annoyance.

Peering over the banister, he looked down to see his eldest son standing on the first floor staring up at him. He was wearing black jeans and a t-shirt, his motorcycle helmet held securely under his arm. “Good afternoon to you too,” Dick said with an amused chuckle.

“What do you want, Dick?” Bruce ground out.

“Can you take a look at my motorcycle? It’s making a funny noise and I can’t pinpoint the problem,” he revealed.

“Can’t…goodbye,” Bruce adamantly stated.

“Wait!” Dick yelled as his father began to pull away from the railing. “What’s the big hurry?”

Bruce released an irritated sigh as he leaned back over the railing. “I have something that I have to take care of right now. I’ll look at it later.”

“But I need my bike for tonight,” Dick insisted. “I have some leads I need to follow up on for a case in Blüdhaven. I can’t do it without my bike.”

Bruce’s chin fell to his chest, doing his best to quell the lust pumping through him with the knowledge that Diana was waiting for him just down the hall right now. “Give me an hour.”

Dick’s gaze narrowed suspiciously as he stared up at his father. “Bruce, what’s really going on?”

“Thirty minutes,” Bruce counter offered without an explanation.

“I have to hurry,” Dick claimed in exasperation. “I have to get back to Blüdhaven to meet Donna for dinner tonight.”

“Twenty minutes,” Bruce tried again.

“Diana’s upstairs isn’t she?” Dick asked with a sudden grin as realization took hold.

Bruce sneered down at his son, his fingers wrapped so tightly around the wooden railing he could’ve snapped it with the intensity of his frustration. “Fine, I’ll be right down.”

Dick chuckled softly as Bruce stomped down the stairs towards him. Bruce swore he was going to get some with her soon if it was the last thing he did today. He was not going to allow anymore interruptions after this to get in their way.

“So…am I interrupting anything?” Dick asked with a laugh as he followed his father towards the library and the grandfather clock that would take them into the Batcave.

“Yes,” Bruce snapped. “This family has the most impeccable timing I’ve ever seen.”

“Have the little ones been keeping you from getting quality time with Diana?”

“Keep it up, Richard, and I’ll have Diana turn your motorcycle into a tin can.”

“Hey, I was just asking out of concern for your wellbeing,” Dick maintained as they stepped down into the familiar eerie darkness. “I can see that you’re wound pretty tight. You look like you could blow a gasket at any minute.”

“And yet you’re adding to my frustration,” Bruce pointed out, the razor-sharp edge to his tone more than apparent.

“Sounds like I’m not the only one,” Dick added.

XXX

Diana waited for well over thirty minutes with no sign of Bruce. She was growing more and more anxious with every passing moment. She threw herself back against the pillows of their bed in exasperation. She didn’t think she could go another night without being able to make love with her husband.

The lack of intimacy with him was driving her positively crazy. Warm soothing bubble baths, training sessions, iced mochas—nothing was working to help alleviate her need. The only one who could help her was Bruce and he was nowhere to be found.

With an angry huff, she got out of bed, picking her dress up off the chair and putting it back on. This was the exact opposite of what she wanted to be doing right now. The children were occupied, there were no Justice League missions requiring their attention and there was no Wayne Enterprise deals to occupy her husband’s time.

She nearly ripped the bedroom door off its hinges as she flung it open, storming down the stairs like a tornado bent on hurting anyone who got in her way. “Bruce?” she called, receiving no response.

Not finding him, Diana had a sinking feeling exactly where he was at that moment. Heading for the library, she quickly made her way down into the cave, prepared to physically drag him back upstairs. She was ready to tie him to the bed with her lasso if she had to in order to get what she wanted.

Following the sounds of tinkering, she came to an abrupt stop to find Bruce working on Dick’s motorcycle; Dick kneeling down on the ground beside him. “What in Hera are you doing?” she demanded to know, anger clearly written in her expression.

Bruce looked up at his wife, instantly growing sheepish with having been caught. He had only meant to be gone for a couple of minutes, not disappear on her like that. He felt so guilty. “Dick stopped by,” he tried to explain as he stood to his feet. “He’s having trouble with his motorcycle.”

“And you had to fix it now?” she cried in indignation as she threw her hands up in the air.

“It’s all my fault, Diana,” Dick guiltily came to his father’s rescue. “I have a date tonight with Donna you see and I needed my bike, but it was—”

“I promise I’ll be up in five minutes,” Bruce interrupted. “I’m almost done.”

“I’m not falling for that again,” Diana replied with a huff and a roll of her blue eyes as she turned on her heel to leave them. “I guess I’ll just have to take matters into my own hands.”

Bruce groaned loudly with her words. It was next to impossible to miss the insinuation. Dick bit his lip, trying to stifle a snicker, but failed miserably. “Don’t,” Bruce hissed dangerously. “Just…don’t.”

“I think that’s my cue to leave now that I’ve completely ruined your afternoon with Diana and gotten you in trouble with her…so um…yah. Thanks for looking at my bike,” Dick said, feeling a little flustered. It was one thing knowing in the back of his mind went on between his parents, but hearing about it was something altogether different.

Bruce wiped his hands on a rag before leveling a heated glare at his son that spoke volumes. “Right,” he snapped before storming off.

He needed to find Diana and fast. 

XXX

Making his way through the library, Bruce was fortunate enough to find Diana heading down the hallway towards the stairs. “Princess!” he called.

“Oh, have time for me now?” she turned to ask, hands finding her hips in that characteristic way that told him he was in big trouble.

“I was trying to get Dick out of here so we could have uninterrupted time together,” he tried to explain.

“Bruce, if there had been a dog, you would be in its house,” she told him, a dark glare filled with tension and anger practically burning a hole through him.

Bruce’s eyes narrowed in confusion as he stared at his wife. “What?” he asked with a shake of his head. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Diana’s annoyed expression turned into one of thoughtful contemplation as she tried to remember if she had even said it right. “I don’t know,” she finally gave up with a shrug. “Something Wally said about dogs and houses and being in trouble.”

“Oh, I’d be in the dog house,” Bruce clarified with an amused chuckle. Every time he thought that she couldn’t be more adorable, she always managed to prove him wrong. “Please, let me make it up to you now.”

“You’re getting warmer,” she decided, folding her arms against her chest. “What did you have in mind?”

Bruce grinned wickedly at her as he closed the distance between them. “How about if I show you instead?”

Diana didn’t have time to respond, his lips suddenly claiming hers as he pushed her back into the entertainment room. A muffled moan escaped as her arms slipped around him, pulling him closer to her. The feel of his muscular body pressed firmly against hers was enough to drive her crazy with a reminder of what she had been denied for the last two and a half weeks.

He kissed her senseless as he shifted his leg between hers, his thigh putting pressure where she needed it most. She moved her hips, the sweet friction it created fanning the flames even hotter. She felt a warm glow begin to spread through her, heat rising in her chest before pooling in her pelvis. 

“I want you…now,” he practically growled with a possessive urgency that sent shivers through her.

“Bruce, I swear by the gods if you don’t take me now, I’m going to go mad,” she warned him as he began to greedily kiss along her throat, his teeth gently sinking into the sensitive skin there.

Diana hissed with pleasure as she rubbed herself against his thigh, her hands moving to his chest to stroke the well-defined curves through his shirt. Her fingernails traced over the distinct cuts of his muscles, amazed once again by the Adonis-like body that he possessed. 

So caught up in the heat of the moment, neither heard the sound of the front door slamming closed as they renewed their connection with one another.

“We…should take this…upstairs,” Diana breathlessly suggested.

“I like that idea,” he replied with a grin.

“Mom!”

Bruce and Diana both groaned in unison, their foreheads coming to rest against each others with the sound of Tim’s voice. “If you don’t answer, maybe he won’t find us,” Bruce whispered.

“Mom!”

“I can’t just ignore him,” Diana softly responded. “He might seriously need something.”

“He’s a teenager,” Bruce reminded her. “He can fend for himself. Hell, he does every night.”

“MOM!”

“But what if it’s—”

Bruce silenced her with a searing kiss to keep her from responding to their teenage son. He had at last gotten her to himself and was not about to give her up now. As he kissed her, his mind was working feverishly on ways to sneak her upstairs without being caught by Tim. Unfortunately, their son was already way ahead of them.

“Hey, get a room already,” Tim said as he walked into the entertainment room to find them kissing.

“I’m trying,” Bruce growled as he pulled back, turning a patented bat glare on his side-kick. “What do you want, Tim?”

“I need help with a homework assignment,” Tim revealed. “It’s some paper I have to write on a country and I picked Greece because of mom.”

“I’d be happy to help you, Tim,” Diana replied with a smile.

“She can help you tomorrow,” Bruce heatedly stated, his hand possessively seizing Diana’s as he began to drag her from the room. “Right now, she’s mine. I need her for an important assignment too.”

Tim’s face scrunched with confusion and abject disagreement. “What kind of assignment do you need her for?”

“It’s nothing that concerns you,” Bruce snapped.

“I don’t want to do homework on a Saturday,” Tim countered. “I want to get it done this afternoon so I can have my weekend free.”

“Tough,” Bruce stated. “Start working on it now and Diana can look it over tomorrow.”

“But, I…”

Tim’s voice trailed off as Bruce led Diana out of the room. “Bruce, where are we going?”

“Out of here,” Bruce informed her before yelling, “Alfred, we’re leaving!”

“Have fun,” was Alfred’s response from the kitchen as Bruce took Diana to the library.

They quickly headed down the stairs into the Batcave, Bruce’s grip on Diana’s hand not loosening for even a second. He wasn’t about to let her go until they both got what they wanted. He marched straight to the transportation pad, pausing only long enough to type in the coordinates.

“Do you really think we’re going to be left alone there?” she asked in disbelief.

“As long as no one knows we’re there, we’ll be fine,” Bruce replied with a smirk.

“Where exactly are we—”

Diana materialized in her quarters on the Watchtower, her husband pouncing on her like a panther as he pushed her back up against the wall. His hands immediately began sliding down her body to grip her thighs, quickly lifting her skirt up with a desperation that demanded to be satisfied. God, he had missed this woman.

Diana attacked him with equal passion and ferocity as she ripped his dress shirt open, shoving it down his arms and forcing him to pause in his assault as she pulled his undershirt over his head. As soon as his shirt cleared his head, his mouth caught hers in a fierce kiss, arousal causing his body to throb mercilessly.

“Superman to Batman.”

“No!” Bruce roared as he pressed his forehead against the wall behind Diana, his breathing labored and his pants far too tight to even remotely be considered comfortable.

Diana’s forehead fell to Bruce’s shoulder, squeezing her eyes closed with anger at the disruption. They were being interrupted at every turn. She finally had her husband to herself and she was not letting him out of here for any reason. The Watchtower could go down in flames right now for all she cared. She was going to get some much needed attention from Bruce one way or another.

“What?” Bruce growled with ferocity that even caused Diana to shudder, but it was more of a shudder of hungry anticipation of that passion that was teeming in his body right now than out of fear of him.

“Um…hi,” Superman eventually replied with a tentative edge to his voice. “I just saw that you and Diana beamed to the Watchtower. Do you need something?

“No, we’re fine,” Bruce rasped deeply.

Diana decided to hurry this conversation along as she lifted her head, her teeth grazing across his shoulder as her hands made quick work of his belt buckle and dress pants. She slipped her hand inside his boxers, finding what she had been after all along.

“I wanted to know if you would be able to—”

“Yes,” Bruce hissed breathlessly in ecstasy as Diana began to stroke him, his hands bracing himself against the wall behind her as his head fell to her shoulder.

“You don’t even know what I’m going to ask you,” Superman commented in confusion. “I was going to see if you and Diana would be willing to train—”

“Yes…please,” Bruce interrupted, his voice rough with desire.

“Batman, are you alright?” Superman asked, growing concerned. “You don’t sound like yourself. You sound like you’re in pain.”

“You have no idea,” Bruce ground out.

Diana’s lips curled deviously against his collarbone as she planted hot wet kisses there, pausing to scrape her teeth over his skin as her hand continued to work him into even more of a frenzy than he was already in. She could only imagine what Kal must thinking right now, but, at that point, she really didn’t care. She wanted her husband.

“What is wrong with you?” Clark demanded to know.

Diana worked her way down Bruce’s body, dragging his pants and boxers down with her as her hot mouth descended upon him, nearly sending him over the edge right there. Bruce cried out as pleasure flared white-hot through his entire body.

“Bruce…are you…” Clark’s voice trailed off as realization dawned on him, panting gasps the only response that Bruce was able to make at that point. “You know I think I’ll talk to you later. Superman out.”

Bruce’s fingers could have curled steel at that point as his body began to shudder, but he didn’t want to come just yet. As desperate as he was for relief, he was equally anxious to be with his wife. He loved her more than anything and not being able to hardly see her for the last two and a half weeks had been torture and not just physically.

He forced his hands from the wall, reaching down to grab her by the shoulders and haul her up to her feet. His mouth crashed into hers as he picked her up and carried her to her bed. Just as promised, her dress didn’t survive Bruce’s passionate assault as the tattered material was tossed over his shoulder.

Her bra suffered a much better fate, but only because the clasps were in the front. In the past, he had proven himself to be very adept at removing the offending material which was a fact she chose not to dwell on. His mouth swiftly descended on her right breast, suckling and teasing her as his hands moved to rid her of her lace panties.

“Bruce…yes…yes…” she murmured as jolts of electricity shot through her with what he was doing to her. “I need you…now…please…”

He knew it wasn’t going to take long for either of them. They were both on a knife’s edge and had been for over two weeks. He didn’t hesitate thrusting his hips and burying himself to the hilt in one deep penetrating stroke. Her body bowed with the sudden intrusion, crying out his name as her fingernails found purchase in his back.

Bruce clutched at the sheets beneath her, grinding his teeth to keep from coming right there. He had missed her so much…missed this intimate connection with her. She sustained him. He needed her like he needed the air he breathed. 

There was an incredible rush of emotions that always coursed through him like a mighty river every time he was with her and it was no different now. It was something that he hadn’t ever really experienced with the other women he had been with before her. No one could ever come close to comparing to her.

“I’ve missed you…so much…” Bruce muttered, fighting to catch his breath as he began to move his hips.

“I’ve…missed you…too,” Diana uttered, each gasping moan punctuating every bone-jarring thrust of his hips.

Sparks of intense pleasure coalesced between her thighs before suddenly shooting through her entire body like wildfire, stealing her breath and curling her toes. Hera, she missed this man so much. She silently swore to herself that she was not about to allow anything to get in the way of being with him like this ever again.

She came with a feral cry, her body arching with the euphoria that erupted deep in her core. She shook as she fought to catch her breath, aftershocks of pleasure rolling through her as Bruce came as well. He quickly rolled off of her onto his back, both of them staring up at the ceiling as they struggled to come down from their mutual high, bodies trembling and chests heaving.

Diana murmured words of love in Greek, shifting onto her side to kiss his throat as she caressed his chest. Bruce wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to him and kissing her deeply. “I love you too, Princess.”

“We are never going that long without making love ever again,” she stated, her tone leaving no room for argument even if Bruce had wanted to. “I thought I was going to go crazy.”

“You and me both,” he agreed, tilting his head to kiss her forehead.

“I guess we just need to do a better job of juggling all of our responsibilities,” she said with a sigh. “Do you think we’ll ever get the hang of having children on top of everything else?”

“I’m sure we’ll get there eventually,” he decided, abruptly rolling her onto her back as he shifted his body over her. “In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy every single second I have alone with you now.”

“I like the sound of that,” Diana agreed with a smile, leaning up to kiss him.

“Flash to Wondy.”

“Green Arrow to Batman.”

“NO!” Bruce and Diana both yelled in unison.


	5. Parenthood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With no Alfred, Diana has to take Nicholas to the Watchtower while Bruce takes Kaia to work with him at Wayne Enterprises, but will things go as planned?

Parenthood

“Bruce, are you sure about this?” Diana inquired with an expression of pure skepticism, a single raven curl dangling in her line of sight.

Bruce flashed his wife his patented charming smile that he had discovered even she wasn’t immune to despite being able to see right through his former playboy reputation. Thankfully, that persona had died soon after starting to date Diana publicly.

“We’ll be perfectly fine, Princess,” he confidently reassured her, pulling the offending curly lock back behind her ear. He pressed his lips to her forehead before pulling her into his arms. He inhaled deeply, reveling in her heavenly scent and the feel of her against him, her head resting against his shoulder. He wished he could enjoy it a while longer, but work was calling them both in very opposite directions. “You worry far too much, you know that?”

Diana pulled back with a frown, but not out of his embrace. “I have to. It’s in the mother’s handbook. Didn’t you get a copy?” she teased.

“Sorry, I must have lost mine,” he replied with a smirk. “Maybe this will help you relax then.”

Bruce stole a kiss, one that was supposed to be short and sweet, but it rapidly turned heated as tongues began to tangle and throaty moans of pleasure were exchanged. It didn’t help any when Diana’s fingers slid up into his hair at the nape of his neck to play with the short strands there. It always turned him on when she did that and, what was worse; she knew they couldn’t finish what she was so cruelly starting.

Bruce reluctantly pulled out of the kiss with a sharp gasp, breathing heavily and leveling her with a glare. “You are a very evil woman.”

Diana gave him her best innocent look, coyly batting her eyelashes at him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know what it does to me when you caress the back of my neck and play with my hair,” he stated, not letting go of her. “You also know we can’t finish this either…at least not the way I really want to.”

“I was just giving you something to look forward to later,” she coquettishly claimed, kissing him lightly on the lips.

“You guys are going to be late if you don’t stop kissing and get going,” Tim said as he entered the kitchen. “Is that supposed to be breakfast?”

Diana turned to find Tim staring at the burnt toast she had set out on a plate for him, his nose wrinkled in disgust. “Sorry, I got distracted with feeding Nicholas. I’ll make you new.”

“No, it’s alright,” Tim reassured her, picking up the burnt toast with his fingertips. “I wasn’t really that hungry anyway.”

The loud crunch of Tim’s teeth meeting hard bread was rather loud, making Diana feel bad. “I’m so sorry, Tim. Please, let me make you something better for breakfast.”

“No, really…this is…great,” Tim maintained as he chewed his toast, finding it more than difficult to swallow. “When is Alfred coming back?”

“Tomorrow evening,” Bruce informed him as he surreptitiously stole a banana from the bowl on the table before turning his attention back to his wife. “Is Kaia’s bag all packed and ready to go?”

“Yes,” she replied as she put Nicholas’s sippy cup in his bag. “I packed her favorite blanket as well as an extra pacifier, her bottles and her medicine.”

“You know it amazes me how Nicholas wouldn’t touch his pacifier, but Kaia can’t go five seconds without hers,” Bruce thoughtfully commented as he glanced at his daughter.

“Are you sure you don’t mind taking Kaia to work with you today?” Diana asked again.

“Whoa! Wait a minute,” Tim interjected with a frown. “Why is Kaia going to work with Bruce?”

“Kaia has a runny nose and a low grade fever,” Diana revealed. “I can’t take her with me to the daycare on the Watchtower and Alfred isn’t here to stay with her.”

Tim’s face immediately brightened as Bruce picked up Kaia’s diaper bag and slung it over his shoulder. “I’ll stay home with her,” the teenager readily volunteered.

Bruce snorted his disapproval as he directed a glare at his son. “No way. You have school today. Besides, remember what happened when you and Dick babysat Nicholas?”

Tim’s shoulders slumped with the reminder as he thoughtfully chewed on his toast. “That was not all my fault and you know it. Wally was partly to blame for that.”

With the mention of the scarlet speedster, Nicholas began to babble excitedly from his highchair at the kitchen table with the mention of Uncle Wally. He waved his spoon in the air and kicked his legs. “Wa…Wa!”

“The answer is still a definite no,” Bruce stated in no uncertain terms as he picked up Kaia who was already in her car seat and ready to go. “You ready to go, my baby girl?”

Kaia gurgled in agreement, her nose beginning to run again. She put her small fist into her mouth and began chewing on it with her gums. She stared up at her father with big blue eyes filled with wonder, melting Bruce’s heart yet again.

“We’ll be perfectly fine, right Kaia?” Bruce smiled at his baby girl, pride and love causing his heart to swell. “She’ll probably close some deals today faster than I can with how absolutely adorable she is. Good thing she looks like her mother.”

Diana shook her head in amusement as she lifted Nicholas out of his highchair. “Yes, because you are just positively hideous looking.”

“Um, what is this supposed to be?” Tim asked, holding up a bowl.

“Oatmeal,” Diana replied as if it was as obvious as the nose on his face.

Tim’s eyes widened in disgust as well as shock as he quickly set the bowl down. “Ok, you know what? This family has got to take some cooking lessons before Alfred goes on his next vacation.”

“I can cook,” Diana maintained.

“Really, mom?” Tim retorted, showing her the congealed substance that resembled wallpaper paste.

“Ok, I can’t cook well,” she amended with a frown.

“Hey, give your mom a break,” Bruce chided Tim. “She’s trying her best.”

“Thanks, Bruce,” she said, kissing him before grabbing Nicholas’s bag. “Wait; you didn’t touch your eggs I made for you this morning.”

“Those were eggs,” Bruce questioned her, casting a dark glower at Tim who was snickering from the other side of the kitchen counter.

“Yes, those were eggs,” she cried in exasperation.

“I gotta run,” Bruce told her as they left the kitchen. “I’ll eat my banana. Come on, Kaia. Let’s go make some money.”

“I have to run too,” Tim announced as he grabbed his school bag and headed towards the front door. “See you tonight, mom…bye, Nicholas.”

“Hey, what about your oatmeal?” Diana called.

Her answer was the slamming of the front door, leaving her alone with her son. She looked at Nicholas in her arms, sighing heavily. “At least you appreciate my cooking.”

Her son stuck out his tongue and made a face before breaking into giggles. Diana could only laugh with him, anxious as well for Alfred’s return tomorrow. “Alright, my little warrior,” she said. “Let’s go fight some crime today.”

XXX

Diana materialized on the transporter pad with Nicholas in her arms and his diaper bag on her shoulder. She immediately smiled when she spotted the civilian crewman running the transporters today as she tried to push her stress and worry from the forefront of her thoughts.

“Good morning, Wonder Woman.”

“Good morning, Sol,” Diana greeted him with a grin as she set Nicholas down, taking hold of his hand.

Solomon came around from his post at the transporter controls to crouch down in front of Nicholas. “And how is my favorite little superhero today?”

“So!” Nicholas excitedly mumbled, holding out his hand to the man.

“Not bad,” Solomon said with a satisfied nod as he gave his little friend a high-five. “You’re getting closer with my name.”

“He is getting easier to understand,” she agreed with a proud smile.

“You be a good boy for your mom today, okay Nicholas?”

Nicholas jabbered something incomprehensible in response, holding up his stuffed bunny to show his friend. His bright blue eyes danced with excitement as he waved goodbye with his free hand, excited to be back on the Watchtower again.

Diana walked through the corridors of the Watchtower holding Nicholas’s hand. Everyone they passed whether superhero or civilian staff had to stop and talk to Nicholas, more excited to see her son then her. She didn’t mind in the least, though. Everyone loved him and she knew they would all protect him with their lives if necessary.

She tried to hurry things along as Nicholas jabbered with another friend or she was going to be late for monitor duty. “Ok, Nicholas,” she prodded along. “We should let Vigilante go.”

Nicholas who was still trying to grab hold of the superhero’s cowboy rope was too mesmerized to obey at that moment. “Ok, little partner,” Vigilante said. “Time for you to mosey on along now. I’ll see ya later, little fella.”

Nicholas waved with his bunny as his mother pulled him along with her towards the ‘Tower’s daycare center. She released an exasperated breath. She had forgotten sometimes what a chore it was just to get through the Watchtower when she had Nicholas or Kaia with her.

Diana passed through the daycare doors, stunned to find six children and Emily who appeared beyond frustrated. “What’s wrong, Emily?” she asked, trying to keep Nicholas from bolting towards the toys.

“Jessica just called in sick today and Beth had a death in her family and I’m all by myself with all of these kids,” Emily explained. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“It’s alright, Emily,” Diana attempted to reassure her. “I’ll just take Nicholas with me.”

“You don’t mind?” she asked with great relief showing on her face.

“Not at all,” Diana told her, stress causing her insides to clench tightly. “It’ll be…fun.”

Leaning over, Diana scooped her son up into her arms before racing out the door. Greek curses formed on her tongue, but she didn’t give them voice. How in the name of Hera was she going to be able to do monitor duty and watch her energetic toddler?

While she couldn’t have asked for a better son, Nicholas already was showing a very mischeivious streak that she was more than certain had come from his father. Every time she looked at him, she swore she saw a little Bruce running around, more than anxious to create trouble of some sort. It was deeply rooted in his unending curiosity with everything than being anything malicious.

Rushing into the Monitor Womb, she found Black Canary leaning against the edge of the desk talking with Green Arrow. They were so obviously in love with each other, momentarily making Diana wonder if she and Bruce were ever that obvious.

Sure all the founders had known of their feelings for one another, the powerful attraction they shared long before they had acted upon it, but after they had gotten together, they had done their best to keep things very professional when they were at work. She wondered how much of their feelings for each other still managed to show through despite their best efforts.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Diana apologized as she set Nicholas down.

“You’re right on time, Di,” Ollie told her. “Hey, you brought the little Bat Wonder with you today.”

“He is so adorable, Diana,” Canary cooed, reaching over to stroke his hair. “How can you ever say no to that little face?”

Diana laughed as she set the diaper bag down, pausing to run her fingers back through her hair. “It’s not easy.”

Green Arrow got down on one knee in front of Nicholas. “Hey, does Uncle Ollie get a hug?”

Nicholas beamed, wrapping his little arms around Green Arrow who quickly returned the embrace before picking him up and swinging him around. Nicholas squealed in delight, clutching his bunny tightly in his fist.

“Ollie,” Dinah chided him. “You’re going to make him puke if you keep doing that.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Diana said as she sat down in the chair at the large monitor station. “If Bruce or Dick aren’t throwing him around then Uncle Clark is.”

“Are you going to fly someday like your mama?” Ollie asked him as he held him out like an airplane and ran him around the Monitor Womb.

Dinah just shook her head and laughed. Ever since their own baby had been born, Ollie had loosened up even more so than he already was. He was like a little kid again. “I’ll get Arrow out of here before he gets Nicholas so riled up he won’t settle down for you.”

“Thanks, Dinah,” Wonder Woman replied with a smile.

“Hey, why didn’t you take him to the daycare?” she asked.

“Emily was overwhelmed with the kids she already had,” the Amazon princess informed her. “Jessica and Beth weren’t able to come in today.”

“I guess I better go pick up Liam,” Dinah decided. “That will probably help ease her stress some. He’s been colicky lately. I’ll see you later, Di. Hey, Ollie! Put Nicholas down. We have to go pick up baby Queen.”

“Alright, see you later, buddy,” Ollie said, returning Nicholas to Diana’s lap.

They watched as the superhero couple exited the Monitor Womb hand-in-hand before Diana turned the chair back to her work. She lightly ran her fingers through Nicholas’s short black hair as he chewed on his bunny’s ear.

“Well, I guess it’s just you and me now, my little warrior.”

XXX

Bruce Wayne took his sunglasses off as he entered Wayne Enterprises in a navy blue Armani suit with a pink and lavender flowered diaper bag on his shoulder and his daughter’s car seat in his hand. He turned many heads with the appearance of Bruce Wayne the father instead of Bruce Wayne the billionaire philanthropist. It caused him to smirk to himself. If they only knew what he did every night, this wouldn’t seem quite so odd.

He smiled at those he passed, tipping his head and saying good morning to those he knew and liked as he took the elevator up to his office. He glanced down at the car seat to find Kaia sleeping, her pacifier lightly bouncing as she sucked on it in her sleep. To say that she was epitome of perfection would have been an understatement.

He knew that Diana was worried about them, but he was looking forward to spending his work day with his daughter. She would be a welcome bright spot to the dreary day in and day out responsibilities and duties that came with running a multi-billion dollar company.

Exiting the elevator, Bruce smiled at his secretary Carol who stared in stunned disbelief at his little companion. “You brought Kaia with you today?” she practically squealed with excitement, leaping from her chair and making a beeline straight for the car seat in his hand.

She bent over to gaze at the little baby, a soft gasp escaping. “She’s so beautiful, Mister Wayne. The pictures in your office don’t do her justice. She looks like an absolute angel.”

“Well, you know it doesn’t hurt that her mother is practically a goddess,” he reminded her.

“I still see you in her face too so it’s not all Diana,” Carol commented, reaching out to run her fingers through the jet black wisps of hair on top of Kaia’s head.

“Is my one o’clock meeting still on?” he asked.

“Yes,” she replied, straightening up. “I put all of the files for the meeting on your desk already as well as a cup of coffee.”

“Excellent,” he said as he made his way to his office. “Thanks, Carol.”

Entering his office, he closed the door behind him before pulling a chair up right beside his desk. He set Kaia’s car seat down on the chair along with her diaper bag. He gently ran his fingers along the curve of her cherubic face, marveling at how perfect she truly was. He couldn’t believe that he and Diana had made such an amazing little girl along with her brother.

Settling into his chair at his desk, he pulled her chair closer to him so he could keep a close eye on her while also turning his attention to the files on his desk. He instinctively reached for his “Rules for Dating my Daughter” coffee mug that Diana had gotten for him before Kaia was born, taking a long sip.

Flipping open the file, he glanced over at his daughter to find her nose running again. He hated to see her not feeling well, but was thankful that it wasn’t anything serious. He reached for the box of Kleenex on his desk, taking one and wiping Kaia’s nose.

She whimpered in her sleep, her small fists rising to swat away his attempts at cleaning her nose as she turned her head away from him in agitation. “Sorry, baby girl,” he gently cooed as she attempted to push him away. “I have a feeling you’re going to be a stubborn fighter just like your mother.”

Kaia opened her eyes, giving him what had the makings of the fiercest batglare he had ever seen. She suddenly sneezed, her pacifier popping out as snot bubbled out of her nose. Her glare darkened as her little face scrunched together, tears forming in her eyes as she began to cry.

Bruce quickly wiped her nose again before picking her up and taking her into his arms. He snatched up her fallen pacifier, her crying ceasing with sudden contentment as she sucked away. He propped her up against his chest, patting her back as he turned his attention back to his work.

He frowned as he reviewed the files for the important meeting this afternoon, wanting to make some changes before he finally made the deal. In fact, there were several changes he hoped to make. Reaching over, he hit the speaker button on his phone.

“Carol, could you have Lucius stop by and see me this morning? I need to talk to him soon about the one o’clock meeting.”

“Sure, Mister Wayne,” she quickly responded. “I’ll contact him right away.”

“Thank you,” he muttered.

He lightly bounced Kaia against his chest as he jotted down some notes, suddenly realizing that he hadn’t put her burp cloth on his shoulder first. He quickly pulled Kaia back to find her nose had already started to run all over his suit jacket along with drool. With a frown, he grabbed the cloth to clean off his suit before placing it on his shoulder.

“I think I should’ve dressed down today,” he told his daughter who looked up at him with curious eyes.

Refocusing on the files, he was interrupted by a knock on his door. “Come in,” he called.

Lucius Fox entered with a smile on his face, closing the door behind him. “I had heard rumors that you had brought in some extra reinforcements today to help you close the Paris deal.”

Bruce gave him a puzzled look as he sat back in his chair. “Why is it such a big deal to everyone that I brought my daughter into work with me today?”

Lucius sat down in the chair across from Bruce as he unbuttoned his suit jacket, crossing his left leg over his right. “Because you may have shed your playboy ways, but you’ll always be the infamous Bruce Wayne. No way can you change that, my friend.”

Bruce grimaced with the reminder. “If they could only see me now,” he said with a grin. “Wearing an expensive suit with my daughter’s snot on it.”

“Hey, it could still launch thousands of headlines across the globe,” Lucius responded, sharing his grin. “She is a cutie, Bruce. You and Diana certainly did well.”

Bruce looked down at his daughter sleeping in the crook of his arm now. “I couldn’t have asked for a better life than this.”

Lucius smiled knowingly at the man before him. “So what sort of changes did you have in mind for the meeting?”

“Well, I was thinking that—”

Bruce was abruptly interrupted by a shrill cry from his daughter. He adjusted his hold on her, bringing her up against his chest and bouncing her lightly in an effort to sooth her. Kaia continued to cry despite his efforts, forcing him to stand to his feet and pace back and forth.

“I think we need to change the sharing rights to better reflect the amount of money and work that Wayne Enterprises is putting into this,” Bruce informed him as he patted Kaia’s back, passing back and forth past Lucius’s chair. “We’re doing the lion-share of the work in this, but they’re getting more rights and therefore more money.”

“I agree,” Lucius responded with a nod. “I was hoping for a chance to point that out to you before we met with them this afternoon. I’ll make sure our legal department is aware of the changes we want to make and draw up new paperwork to present.”

Kaia continued to whimper and cry, a distinct smell abruptly filling the air causing both Bruce and Lucius to wrinkle their noses. “I think someone needs changed,” Bruce decided.

“I’ll leave you to it, dad,” Lucius said, rising from his chair. “I’ll see you at the meeting this afternoon.”

“Thanks,” Bruce replied with a frown, grabbing Kaia’s diaper bag and taking her back to his desk.

Staring down at his desk, he quickly weighed the risks, ultimately deciding to turn his credenza into a makeshift changing table instead of his desk. Laying out a blanket, he carefully laid Kaia down, unzipping her onesie only to find the stench growing stronger by the moment.

“I’m going to need my office fumigated before this day is over,” he muttered to himself. 

Holding his breath, he went to work at cleaning up his daughter who was now staring up at him with bright blue eyes still filled with tears, her fist in her mouth and completely oblivious to the fact that she was the source of the offending smell.

XXX

“Red Tornado, Vigilante, Stargirl, and Vixen to the transporter room now,” Diana ordered. “Earthquake in Ecuador.”

Diana sat back in her chair with a frown, finally relaxing once the team had been safely transported to Earth. Checking the other monitor screens once more, she allowed herself to relax even further, taking the opportunity to check on her son sitting on the floor.

She couldn’t help but smile at the sight that greeted her. Nicholas sat on the floor playing Legos with his best friend—Uncle Clark. It was beyond hilarious and yet endearing to see the Man of Steel lying stretched out on his stomach on the floor, dressed in his uniform playing like a little kid. 

Nicholas was sitting about as close to his buddy as he could without actually sitting on top of him, his stuffed bunny lying on the floor right beside him. He was holding up a Lego, jabbering something or other to Clark who only smiled and nodded, pretending that he understood.

“Where did you get the Legos, Kal?” she asked.

His cheeks grew a faint shade of pink as he sheepishly looked up at her. “I’ve actually had them in my quarters for a couple of weeks now,” he confessed. “I bought them for Nicholas, but I hadn’t had a chance to give them to him yet. I thought now was as good a time as any.”

“That was very thoughtful of you,” she replied. “He obviously loves them.” Nicholas whole-heartedly agreed, holding up the Lego in his hand and babbling excitedly to her. “Can you tell Uncle Clark ‘thank you’?”

Nicholas leaned in and kissed Clark on the cheek, leaving a little slobber behind. “Ta-to.”

The Man of Steel just chuckled in response. He swore he couldn’t love this little boy anymore if he had been his own. “You’re welcome, Nicholas. When Lara gets older, I’m sure she’ll love to play Legos with you too.”

“What are you two building by the way?” Diana asked with a confused expression on her face.

Clark’s brow furrowed as he studied the structure before them, tilting his head. “You know I’m not exactly sure. Nicholas just points where he wants it to go and I put them on for him.”

Diana chuckled softly, shaking her head in amusement when an alarm captured her attention. Turning to the monitor screens, her expression quickly morphed into anger. “We’ve got trouble.” Superman was on his feet in no time, moving to stand behind her chair. “Bizzaro and Grundy are in Metropolis trying to destroy downtown.”

“I guess duty calls,” Superman grimly stated. “Sorry, Nicholas, but I’ve got to go.”

Nicholas immediately burst into tears as Clark began to make his way towards the door, getting up onto his feet to follow him only to be swiftly scooped up into his mother’s arms before he could take two steps. Superman paused by the door, guilt taking over as Nicholas sobbed, his arms stretched out towards his friend.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” Superman told him. “I’ll be back to play with you later, okay?”

Nicholas nodded his head as the tears continued to fall, burying his face in the crook of his mother’s neck. “Uncle Clark will be back,” Diana attempted to soothe him as she rubbed his back. “He just has to go take care of a couple of bad guys first. Come; let’s play with your Legos.”

Kneeling down, Diana picked up a handful of Legos before returning to her chair. Sitting back down with Nicholas in her lap, she set the Legos on the desk for Nicholas to play with, but he had lost all interest in them for the moment as he noticed all the massive computer display before him as well as all of the fascinating buttons.

He abruptly lunged forward, his little fingers punching keys on the computer. “Nicholas!” Diana cried, pulling his hand back.

“Green Lantern,” John responded to the hail. “Did you need me, Di?”

Nicholas squealed in delight at the sound of Uncle John’s voice coming over the sound system in the Monitor Womb. He chattered excitedly, reaching for more computer keys as Diana wrapped a protective arm around him in an effort to keep him from summoning any more Leaguers.

“Nicholas?” John chuckled in recognition. “Hey, little man. Are you helping mom with Monitor Duty today?”

“Sorry, John,” Diana chimed in, obviously exasperated as she tried to talk over Nicholas’s nonstop jabbering. “We’re good for now. Nicholas accidently pushed some buttons.”

“No problem,” John reassured her. “Bye, Nick.”

“Bub…bub,” Nicholas waved at the massive computer screens monitoring situations all over the globe, but none of them showing the Green Lantern much to the little boy’s confusion.

Diana released a weary sigh, rubbing her forehead. Checking the clock, she groaned to herself. She still had three hours and thirty-eight minutes of monitor duty left. This was going to be the longest shift of her entire life.

XXX

Bruce was bouncing Kaia in his arms as he stood before his desk, doing his best to study his files for this afternoon’s meeting while attempting to soothe his daughter. Lines creased across his forehead as Kaia continued to whimper and sniffle, his attention being pulled in two very different directions at that moment.

His attention was abruptly captured by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He absentmindedly picked it up without looking at it to see who was calling him. “This is Bruce,” he answered.

“Hey, how are you and Kaia surviving so far?” Diana asked, the sound of his wife’s voice as well as Nicholas’s chattering in the background causing a smile to quickly spread across Bruce’s face.

“We are doing just fine,” he reassured her, gently patting Kaia’s back.

“Is she still congested?”

“Yes,” Bruce confirmed. “Unfortunately, my suit jacket became her Kleenex.”

Diana chuckled softly in response. “I’m so sorry, Bruce. I thought I packed a couple of burp clothes for her.”

“You did,” he told her. “I just forgot to pull one out before propping her up against my shoulder.”

“Are you sure you don’t me to come get her so you can work?”

“I’m positive,” he maintained. “We’re doing fine and—hey, wait a minute. Why is Nicholas with you? Don’t you have monitor duty right now?”

“Yes, but there were staffing issues in the ‘Tower daycare so he’s with me today.”

Bruce smirked as images of Nicholas trying to help his mother with monitor duty flashed through his mind. “And how is that going?”

“Well, so far we’ve accidently hailed Lantern, Green Arrow, and Aquaman,” she informed him. “He also somehow activated the ‘Tower’s speaker system. He was yelling “dada” into the microphone before I managed to get it turned off.”

It was Bruce’s turn to laugh with the revelation of his son’s mischief. “He must have gotten his mischievousness from you.”

“I think it’s all from you,” she decided. “I swear he’s faster than Flash sometimes.”

“And you really think you can handle both Nicholas and Kaia by yourself while doing monitor duty?”

“Probably not, but I feel bad for you,” she replied. “I know you have a lot of work to do at the office today especially with that important meeting this afternoon.”

“No worries,” he told her. “I’ve got it all under control.”

Diana sighed in resignation. “If you’re sure you two will be alright.”

“I’m positive,” he said, bouncing Kaia who was still whimpering in annoyance and bordering on a full-fledged wail. He needed to get Diana off the phone soon so she wouldn’t worry any more than she already was. “I’ll see you tonight. Love you, Princess.”

“Love you too, Bruce,” she responded.

Bruce could practically hear her smile in her voice with her profession of love. It always warmed his heart to hear those words. He never grew tired of hearing it. He just hoped that Diana managed to survive the day with their precocious toddler.

“All right, my little girl,” he said, turning his attention to his infant daughter. “I believe you are due for your bottle already.”

Carrying her to where her diaper bag rested, he rifled through it until he found what he was looking for, turning as his office phone began to ring. He settled into his chair with his daughter, setting the bottle down on his desk before picking up his phone. “What is it, Carol?”

“I have Jeremy Nelson on the phone wanting to talk to you,” Carol told him.

“Put him through,” Bruce told her, settling Kaia into the crook of his arm, the phone cradled between his ear and shoulder. “This is Bruce.”

“Bruce!” Jeremy enthusiastically greeted him. “How are things going?”

“Good,” Bruce responded as Kaia began to cry. “Just working on a new deal to make the company another billion or so.”

Jeremy chuckled, the sound of a baby’s cry filling his ear. “Are you sure you’re at work? It sounds like you’re in a nursery.”

“I brought my daughter Kaia to work with me today,” Bruce revealed, bouncing his daughter in his arm as he reached for her bottle. “It’s feeding time and I’m afraid mom isn’t available so she’s stuck with me for now.”

“Just don’t get baby drool on your suit,” Jeremy warned him.

“Jeremy, you act like you speak from experience,” Bruce replied.

“You could say that I’ve done my share of babysitting at the office myself,” he revealed. “That’s why we hired a nanny. You should look into getting one, Bruce.”

“And miss this? Not on your life,” Bruce told him. “What can I do for you?”

“I was wondering if we could meet for lunch sometime next week,” Jeremy said. “I have a possible deal that I want to discuss with you.”

“Sounds good,” Bruce agreed. “Have your secretary call Carol and get it set up.”

“I’ll do that. Good luck today with your baby girl.”

“Thanks, Jeremy. I’ll see you next week.”

“See you then.”

Hanging up the phone, Bruce glanced down at Kaia who was furiously sucking away on her bottle; her tiny hand moving to rest against her father’s hand holding it for her. She stared up at him in wide-eyed fascination as if memorizing every detail of his face. It was little moments like these that he never wanted to forget, never wanted to end.

XXX

Diana held her head in her hands, trying to convince herself that she had done the right thing in letting Flash take Nicholas for a little while so she could finish monitor duty. She was beginning to question her decision less than twenty minutes after Wally had taken her son, remembering what had happened when he had helped Dick and Tim babysit Nicholas before.

She just hoped that Bruce didn’t find out about this. He would never forgive her or Wally if something happened to Nicholas while he was on the Watchtower. Straightening up, she began to reach for her commlink in order to call Flash to bring her son back, but quickly lowered her hand.

She couldn’t do that to him. Wally loved Nicholas and considered himself his self-appointed favorite uncle. It would crush him if she asked him to bring Nicholas back. He would think that they didn’t trust him to take care of their son.

Although, she was sure just checking in with him couldn’t hurt. She instantly reached for her commlink, hoping that she had made the right decision. “Wonder Woman to Flash.”

It took a little while for Flash to respond, each second that passed causing her heart to pound a little harder. “Uh, this is Flash. What’s up, Wondy?”

“Just checking in to see how Nicholas is doing,” she tentatively answered him, hoping that the anxiety she was feeling was wholly unnecessary.

“We’ve only been gone for like twenty-three minutes,” Flash pointed out.

“I know, but Nicholas can be a little bit of a handful,” she tried to cover. “He’s a good little boy. It’s just that he has a lot of energy and is very curious about everything like his father is.”

“Yah, um, you can definitely tell that he’s the son of Bats,” Flash agreed, laughing nervously and piquing Diana’s curiosity.

“Flash, what’s wrong?” she demanded to know. “Nicholas is in good hands, right?” 

“Actually, he was in my hands, but not so much anymore. He vanished about ten minutes ago,” Flash confessed, feeling guilty.

“What?” Diana yelled as she leapt to her feet. “Where is my son, Wally?”

“Well, he was here one second, trying to take my mask off as we were about to head into the commissary for a snack,” Flash quickly tried to explain. “We were stopped by Fire and Ice and they were rubbing his hair and then he was gone. I swear I didn’t do anything, Wondy!”

“It’s okay, Flash,” Diana said with a sigh as she rubbed her forehead, squeezing her eyes closed. “His inhibitor hasn’t been staying on like it’s supposed to. J’onn is working on a new one. I’m calling J’onn now to cover the rest of my shift. I’ll be right there.”

She immediately called J’onn who phased into the Monitor Womb in less a second. She explained the situation to him before racing through the Watchtower. J’onn was going to start a search of the ‘Tower through the security feeds while she and Flash began to search for him.

Diana was outside of her mind with worry for her son, knowing that he had the ability to appear and disappear in less than a heartbeat anywhere on the ‘Tower. The only thing that gave her any measure of comfort was the fact that he could only transport himself short distances so he couldn’t get to Earth or any nearby planets.

Anger began to seethe in her veins as various images of dismembering Hermes for gifting her son drifted through her head. She sent a silent plea to her goddesses for protection over Nicholas, fearing the worst as she flew through the ‘Tower like a heat-seeking missile.

She found Wally pacing back and forth in the hallway outside of the commissary, his hands behind his back and his head lowered. She instantly felt sorry for him as she came to a stop before him. His head snapped up, his eyes wide with fear.

“Wondy, I’m so sorry!” he cried. “Please don’t hurt me! I didn’t mean to lose him!”

“It’s not your fault, Wally,” Diana insisted as she held up a hand to stop him. “This happened to Dick and Donna too. Let’s just split up and see if we can find him. We’ll need a cookie to bribe him or—”

“Got it,” Flash stated, gone and back in less a heartbeat. He had two cookies in his hand, one for her and one for him. “Now what?”

“Do you have his inhibitor?”

“Right here,” he told her, holding his hand open to her.

“Good,” she said with a nod. “You hold on to it. If I find him, you can get to me faster than I can get to you. J’onn is searching for him from the Monitor Womb and will keep us posted on what he finds.”

“Uh, does Bruce have to know about this?” Flash tentatively asked.

“Not as long we find him soon,” Diana said. “Keep me posted if you find him even for a moment.”

“Will do.”

Flash was gone in the next breath, leaving Wonder Woman alone in the corridor. “Nicholas Alfred Wayne, you had better not be getting into too much trouble,” she ground out.

XXX

Bruce sat back in his chair at the head of the conference table with one leg crossed over the other, his daughter sleeping soundly in the crook of his arm. Spit up from Kaia and her bottle had created white spots on his dark gray tie, wet spots from a runny nose on his light gray dress shirt. His black pants appeared to be safe so far from his daughter’s assault.

All eyes were glued on the famous billionaire sitting at the head of the table with his infant daughter in his arms. It was so incongruous to the thousands of tabloids of years past. Even though he had shed that image over two and a half years ago, it was still a little disconcerting to see the change in him in person.

One of Bruce’s executives fought the urge to pull out his cell phone and snap a picture, choosing to keep his job rather than capture a rarely seen moment like this. Of course, that didn’t stop Lucius from sneaking his phone out and snapping a quick pic as Bruce spoke to the group about the changes that he wanted to make to the Paris deal.

The group from Paris sat at the opposite end of the table, listening intently, their expressions stoic and giving nothing away about what they were thinking. The president of the company stared at Bruce, his brown eyes revealing great intelligence and insight, but his expression was grim to say the least.

“So that is our revised proposal,” Bruce concluded. “I know that we had originally discussed certain agreements, but I feel that this new contract will better reflect a more solid partnership with equal benefits for both sides.”

The president of the company in Paris leaned forward, his forearms coming to rest on the conference table. His expression was hard, but Bruce wasn’t concerned. He knew from the beginning that this deal was going to be huge and more than difficult to make. The president was a very tough nut to crack, but Bruce had handled far worse.

Bruce stared at Mister Dupree at the end of the table, neither one of them backing down. The tension in the room was swelling like a tidal wave, everyone glancing back and forth between the two powerful men. It was like a showdown between gunslingers—one with a forbidding stare, the other with a baby in his arms.

Mister Dupree watched as Bruce glanced down at Kaia, adjusting the blanket around his baby daughter. He suddenly straightened up, his decision suddenly made. “Deal,” he simply said with his thick French accent.

Everyone turned to look at the Frenchmen, stunned by his acceptance of the new terms. Bruce smiled in response, propping Kaia up against his chest. His large hand easily covered her back, keeping her protectively against him. “I’m glad that we could work out a deal. I think that it’ll be profitable for all involved.”

Mister Dupree stood to his feet, a smile surprisingly softening his features. “Any man who comes to a very important meeting such as this with his baby girl must be a very good man. That’s the kind of man I want to do business with.”

Bruce returned Dupree’s smile with one of his own. “She means the world to me as does the rest of my family. Nothing is more important to me than my wife and children.”

“As is my family,” Dupree readily agreed with a tilt of his head. “I have seven children of my own.”

Bruce blanched, internally wincing at the thought of having any more kids. Two small children plus a teenager were more than enough for them. “I think I’ll stick with what I’ve got,” he said as he stood to his feet. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe I have another diaper to change.”

Mister Dupree smiled in amusement as he noticed the large wet spot on Bruce Wayne’s black pants where the baby’s diaper had leaked on him. “Please…by all means.”

XXX

Diana crawled on her hands and knees through a maintenance conduit on the Watchtower, her frustration over the situation and her fear for her son nearly driving her to the edge. She and Flash had been searching for Nicholas for hours now with little success.

There had been several reported sightings of her son all over the ‘Tower, but, every time someone got close to him, he disappeared with a giggle. He thought this was all just a wonderful game, funny to everyone but her. His brief appearances had been the only thing keeping her sane right now.

On the positive side, Nicholas was still all right. The problem was that it was well past his naptime. He could fall asleep anywhere in the Watchtower and they wouldn’t be able to find him. Everything inside of her cried out for her to call Bruce, to talk to him…to have him here with her, but she couldn’t for Wally’s sake and safety.

She wanted to hold her son more than anything, to know for certain that he was safe. She glanced down at the cookie still in her hand, sending more prayers to her goddesses that Nicholas was all right. She had to find him soon before she had a nervous breakdown, before Bruce…

“Batman to Wonder Woman.”

Oh, Hera.

“This is Wonder Woman,” she tentatively answered the hail on her commlink.

“How are you and Nicholas doing?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice.

Diana paused, straightening up without thinking and cracking her head hard on the steel above her. “Ouch!”

“What’s the matter? Are you all right?”

Diana rubbed the top of her head, scowling angrily. “I’m fine,” she growled. “I just hit my head.”

“What are you doing?”

“Um, nothing,” she replied. “How is Kaia? Is she feeling any better?”

“Still sniffling and drooling,” he said, his affection for his daughter unmistakable.

Diana chuckled softly. “And you’re wearing most of it, aren’t you?”

“Pretty much,” he admitted. “My whole outfit has been christened by our daughter, but she helped me close the Paris deal this afternoon.”

“Great,” Diana exclaimed. “Now, I can get those shoes that I’ve always wanted.”

Bruce laughed at her teasing. “I’ll take you shopping tomorrow. After the day we’ve had, I think we more than deserve a little alone time, maybe some dinner at that French restaurant you love.”

“It’s a date, Mister Wayne,” she said with sudden excitement at the thought.

“I’ll see you at home in a couple of hours,” he told her.

“I’ll see you then.”

“Oh, tell Nicholas I’ll see him tonight.”

“I will,” she promised. “See you tonight.”

Tapping her commlink off, Diana exhaled slowly, thankful that he didn’t actually ask to talk to Nicholas. This had turned into an incredibly exhausting day. She’d had to cancel her afternoon training session with the rookies, postponing it until Monday. She also had paperwork and rosters that were awaiting her attention that had to wait while she searched for her son.

“Nicholas Wayne,” she ground out as she finally exited the conduit. “You had better make an appearance soon or—”

“Flash to Wondy. I’ve got him!” Flash declared. “I’ve got the little Houdini in hand and inhibitor is in place. We are in the commissary having a snack right now.”

“Praise Hera!” Diana cried, reaching for her commlink. “I’m on my way. Do not move.”

Diana flew for the commissary with speed that Hermes would have been impressed by, more than thankful that her son was safe and sound. Now, she just needed to get him to J’onn to make sure that inhibitor never came off again.

XXX

Bruce sank down onto the couch beside his wife, wrapping his arm around her. Diana readily sank back with him and into his welcoming embrace. “We did it,” he told her. “Alfred will be proud of us.”

“I did not think that we were going to survive this day,” she confessed. “I knew you would do a great job with Kaia today, but I was worried that she would prove too much to handle. A baby is a lot of work, Bruce.”

“So is a precocious toddler,” he reminded her. “I can only imagine the day you had with Nicholas.”

Diana groaned with the reminder, her arm slipping over his abdomen as she buried her face into his neck. “You have no idea.”

“So when were you going to tell me that Nicholas’s inhibitor came off again?”

Diana straightened up out of his embrace, shock coloring her face. “How did you know about that?”

“J’onn called me,” Bruce admitted with a grin. “He wanted me to know that he’d finished the new inhibitor for Nicholas and was going to put it on him as soon as you found him.”

“You didn’t come to help look for him?” she cried, swatting him in the shoulder.

“I knew you had it under control,” he told her, pulling her back into his arms to lie against him again. “Besides, there wasn’t that much trouble he could get into on the ‘Tower.”

“You have no idea,” Diana ground out in annoyance as she tightened her hold on him. “He got into the cookies in the commissary, scared the life out of Shayera in her quarters while she was feeding Rex, nearly gave Booster Gold a heart attack in the shower, appeared on Dove’s chest while he was lifting weights in the training room and I haven’t even told you what he did in the infirmary…”

Bruce shifted his position, capturing her lips in a steamy kiss that quickly silenced her as well as removing a degree of her stress. She readily returned his kiss, her fingers gripping his dress shirt and pulling him even closer as the kiss grew more heated.

He moved over her as he pushed her back against the cushions of the couch, settling on top of her. “Does this mean you’re too tired to play with me now?” he huskily asked as he moved to nibble on her jaw.

Diana could barely form a coherent thought as he moved to devour her throat, his hands already beginning to make work her t-shirt up her torso. Her hand moved to the back of his head, her fingers raking through his hair and holding him against her.

“What about…Hera…kids?”

“Tim’s gone for the evening and taking patrol for me tonight…the kids are asleep already,” he told her between nipping kisses. “It’s just you…and me…all night…long.”

Diana grinned with the thought, more than excited by the idea of having her husband all to herself. “I’ll race you to the bedroom.”

Bruce pulled back to look down at her, a darkening storm of lust permeating his eyes, telling her she was in for a very passionate night. “You’re on, Princess.”

“What about supper?” she asked as they both sat up. “The kids ate, but we haven’t had a chance yet.”

“I want my dessert first,” he told her as he stood to his feet, offering her his hand. “I’ll find us something to eat later.”

Diana smiled up at him, taking his hand. “I like the sound of that.”

“I thought you would,” he murmured with a smirk.

Bruce pulled her up and into his arms, holding her flush against his body. He leaned in to kiss her again only to abruptly turn his head away from her to sneeze. “Oh, Bruce,” Diana groaned his name, her forehead coming to rest against his chest. “You’re not getting sick, are you?”

“What? No! Of course not,” he maintained. “I feel perfectly—”

He was unable to finish his sentence, interrupted by a series of sneezes that quickly had his eyes watering. Diana pulled out of his embrace with a disappointed sigh, taking him by the hand. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s get you into bed.”

“Princess, I feel fine, I…I…” he attempted to tell her only to stop to sneeze again, his nose running.

“Right,” she mumbled under her breath as she dragged her sick husband upstairs. “I’ll make you some chicken noodle soup.”

“No, really,” he adamantly said as he allowed her to pull him up the stairs towards their bedroom. “You don’t have to cook.”


	6. Wayne Family Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wayne family celebrates Christmas together. FLUFF/FUN/ROMANCE/CUTE FAMILY MOMENTS AHEAD! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Wayne Family Christmas

**_Christmas Eve Day; 4:02pm EST_ **

Bruce entered the house, dropping his briefcase and suit jacket in a heap on a nearby chair with a weary sigh. He began loosening his tie, more than anxious to find his wife. It had been a very long week at Wayne Enterprises, but now the day was finally over and his Christmas vacation could begin.

He was more than excited about what the next two weeks held for him and his family. Tomorrow was Kaia’s first Christmas and Nicholas’s second, making it a day that he was more than looking forward to with eager anticipation.

He could feel his lips curling with just the thought. He never would’ve dreamed that Christmas would once again become a day that he would actually be excited about. It had been one that he had dreaded almost as much as his birthday, always telling himself that it didn’t hurt that he didn’t have someone special to share it with.

Now, though, he had Diana and a real family that he loved more than life itself.

Making his way to the living room, he found Diana sitting on the floor surrounded by wrapping paper and presents, piles of tissue paper, ribbons, and bows. It looked like Christmas had exploded in their living room. In the corner was their enormous Christmas tree, shining brightly like a large beacon with the thousands of lights that lined its countless limbs.

His gaze fell once more on his wife who was sitting in the middle of the red and green chaos of wrapping presents. She was humming a Christmas song to herself as she intently worked on wrapping gifts for the children at the orphanage. His eyes roamed over her perfect form, the feminine curves that he loved to explore over and over again, the way her ebony hair was pulled into a high ponytail revealing her long slender neck.

“So where’s my present, Princess?”

Diana looked up with a start, her expression morphing from surprise to affection in a heartbeat. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” she teased with a triumphant smirk. “You’ve been trying to find it for the last two weeks, Mister Detective.”

Clearing a path, Bruce settled down on the floor next to her, his weariness suddenly forgotten as her heavenly scent filled his nostrils. He leaned in, kissing her deeply as his hand cupped her cheek. “I have my ways of getting what I want,” he murmured against her lips, his fingers moving to tickle her side.

“So do I,” she countered with a giggle as she tried to avoid his attack. Grabbing his tie, she pulled him in for another kiss to distract him.

Pulling back, Bruce studied his wife, an amused glint flickering in his eyes. “Why do you have Christmas ornaments hooked in your hair? Are you trying a new look?”

“Oh, I forgot,” she admitted, carefully pulling one from her hair. “Before his nap, Nicholas decided he wanted to decorate me while I was wrapping presents so he took some of the ornaments from the tree and put them in my hair.”

Bruce couldn’t help but chuckle, helping her remove the ornaments from her raven hair. “Are the kids still taking their naps?”

“For the moment they are. I was hoping to finish all the wrapping before they woke up,” she informed him. 

“I have a feeling they’ll be up soon,” he warned her. “You might have to finish later.”

Taking the long red ribbon in her hands, she draped it around his neck, using it to pull him closer to her again. “Maybe I’ll just wrap you up while I’m at it and open you up tomorrow morning.”

“Why wait when you could start now?” he teased as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.

Diana chuckled softly with his suggestion, pressing a red bow to the top of his head instead. “There you go.”

“Dada! Dada!”

The sound of Nicholas calling for him interrupted their plans for a little alone time, but Bruce knew without a doubt it was something they would be revisiting later tonight. Turning, he saw Nicholas running towards them, a grin on his face and a large sugar cookie in his small hand.

“Hey, little man,” Bruce greeted him, standing to his feet to swing him up into the air. “Grandpa Alfred spoiling you again with cookies?”

“Num-num,” Nicholas agreed, taking a bite of his cookie. “Alf coo-coo.”

Bruce ran his fingers through Nicholas’s black hair, leaning in to kiss him on the forehead. “Were you decorating your mom like a Christmas tree?” he asked as he sat down on the couch with Nicholas in his arms.

Nicholas giggled, pointing at Diana and jabbering excitedly. He pointed at the Christmas tree and his mother, telling his tale as best he could. “Mama,” he said with a giggle. “Twee.”

Diana moved to sit on the couch beside them, tickling her son. “It’s a good thing you are so cute, little warrior, or I’d have to string you up,” she teased him.

“When are Dick and Donna coming?” Bruce asked.

“They’ll be here sometime after dinner,” she replied, reaching over to place a bow on Nicholas’s forehead.

He giggled as he pulled it off, reaching out to place it on Bruce’s chest. “Dada,” he jabbered, patting the bow several times before snuggling into his father’s arms to eat his cookie, the side of his head resting against his father’s chest.

“Your grandpa Alfred spoils you rotten, Nicholas,” Bruce decided.

“I heard that and I’d say that it’s well-earned,” Alfred countered, walking in with a wide-awake Kaia.

“Ka-Ka,” Nicholas exclaimed upon seeing his baby sister.

“You’ve created a cookie monster, Alfred,” Bruce reminded him.

The British butler only smiled proudly as he’d handed Kaia over to Diana. “It’s not my fault that my grandson appreciates my baking skills.”

“He appreciates them a little too much,” Bruce teased the older man.

“I believe you were not much better when you were a little boy,” Alfred revealed. “The number of times that I found you climbing onto the countertop to get your little hands into the cookie jar became too numerous to keep track of.”

Diana couldn’t help but laugh at the momentary look of chagrin that passed over her husband’s face. Bruce gave her a fierce batglare in warning that only made her laugh even harder. “Don’t look at me! We didn’t have cookies on Themyscira so Nicholas must have gotten it all from you.”

“Hmmm…it seems to me that I heard a story about you, Miss Diana, when your mother visited last month that involved you and olives,” Alfred disclosed.

Diana’s cheeks instantly stained red as she turned all of her attention on her daughter in her arms. “You know I think I better go check Kaia’s diaper.”

“Oh no, you don’t,” Bruce adamantly stated, stopping her with a hand on her shoulder. “I want to know more about these olives.”

“There’s nothing else to tell,” Diana insisted, her voice an octave higher than normal. “They’re just olives and mother tends to exaggerate.”

“I don’t care,” Bruce replied with a smug smirk, snatching her hand up in his. “I want the whole story and leave no details out or I’ll go get the lasso.”

Diana scowled, knowing that she wasn’t going to get out of this. “Fine,” she ground out. “I used to sneak into the kitchen and steal olives. There—end of story. Are you happy now?”

“That’s not quite the story I heard,” Alfred interjected in a sing-song voice. “Your mother said that you were constantly pilfering olives from the kitchen when no one was looking and even found you in your bed one night hiding under your covers with a whole bowl of olives.”

“Thank you, Alfred,” Diana bit out in embarrassment. “I had forgotten that part of the story.”

“I hear that you ate so many that night that you were sick in bed the whole next day,” Alfred continued with a gleam of true affection in his eyes for the princess.

“Can’t we talk about Bruce again?” she demanded to know.

“No way!” Bruce exclaimed, hardly able to contain his laughter now. “This is much more fun. I never get to hear enough of about you growing up on Themyscira.”

“There’s a reason for that,” she stated as she turned to glare at him.

He leaned in and kissed her, erasing her annoyance with the tenderness of his kiss. “I bet you were the cutest little girl running around Themyscira with raven curls and big blue eyes. I just wish your mother had pictures of you so I could see them.”

“Oh, Hera!” Diana cried. “I’m glad that she doesn’t.”

“I have a feeling our little Miss Kaia will show us exactly what you looked like as a girl, Miss Diana,” Alfred decided, pride shining in his eyes as he gazed at the little girl in Diana’s arms.

Diana looked down at her daughter, Kaia staring up at her with big blue eyes. “I only see Bruce in her,” she commented, love more than evident in her tone.

Bruce leaned in even closer to look down at his daughter. “I only see you, Princess.”

A camera’s flash caught them all by surprise, causing them to look up at Alfred who was slipping the offending camera into his pocket. “I needed a new picture to add to the refrigerator,” he claimed as he turned to leave the room. “Dinner will be ready at six-thirty.”

Bruce looked at Diana, an amused expression causing his lips to twitch. “You mean the picture of Nicholas trying to pull Santa’s beard off that we got last week isn’t enough?”

Diana groaned. “Don’t remind me,” she told him. “I thought for sure Nicholas would cry, but no, he had to be just like his father and prove that the man was really Santa by trying to rip his beard off.”

Bruce only grinned with pride as he ran a hand along the back of Nicholas’s head. “That’s my son,” he declared.

“Hera, help me,” Diana muttered under her breath as she shook her head.

_**Christmas Morning; 06:36 EST** _

Diana was aroused in more ways than just one when she felt warm lips and the slight sting of stubble from his jaw against her shoulder and along her shoulder blade. Her lips curled against her pillow case, a throaty groan escaping.

“Merry Christmas, Princess,” he spoke with a husky rasp against her ear as he shifted next to her.

His desire and intentions were more than evident and she knew in that instant that they wouldn’t be opening any presents just yet. “Merry Christmas,” she sleepily mumbled, gasping sharply at the feel of him and his arousal against her back. He definitely had one thing in mind.

Bruce continued to kiss along her neck and back, his hands freely roaming her perfect body that he loved to explore. What he loved just as much if not more was the sound of his name on her lips when they made love.

“Bruce…”

Exactly like that. There was something about his name spoken so sensually by _her_ that just drove him absolutely crazy.

Diana abruptly rolled onto her back beneath him, taking his face in her hands and kissing him deeply. He parted his lips, begging for more of her and moaning when she readily complied. He just prayed the kids didn’t come knocking on their door wanting to open presents any time soon. Even though he was excited to see their kids opening their presents, this was the only present he wanted right now.

Diana gasped as he began to kiss and nip along her neck. “Do you really think…ahhh…you’re going to be able to finish…what you started?” she managed to utter.

“I’m more than determined to,” he murmured as his hand slid south. “They can wait until I’ve properly wished you a Merry Christmas.”

Before Diana could form a response, she found her mouth completely occupied by his, his hand already working to purge her mind of any sort of coherent thought. She prayed to her gods that no one interrupted them before they were done or she just might go Amazon Warrior Princess on them.

He kissed his way to up her ear, the feel of his hot breath sending shivers down her spine. “No one in this world loves you more than I do, Princess,” he whispered in her ear.

Tears pricked her eyes as he made love to her, expressing every ounce of passion and love that he possessed for her. Unable to speak, she pulled him into a heated kiss that conveyed what she felt for him as well; telling him without words what lived in her heart.

They came together in the quiet stillness of the morning, holding each other and exchanging kisses. Unfortunately, the sweet solitude they shared at that moment was interrupted by loud knocking on their door all too soon.

“Wake up, you guys!” Tim hollered. “We want to open our presents!”

Bruce growled, pulling a pillow free from behind his head and throwing it at the door. “Go away!”

Diana giggled, pressing her face into Bruce’s chest. “We should probably go downstairs. We don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”

“They can start without us,” he suggested, dipping his head to capture her lips in an effort to change her mind.

“Guys!” Tim yelled, pounding harder on the door. “Don’t make me unleash Nicholas on you!”

“You can’t get in,” Bruce countered. “The door is locked.”

“And who taught me how to pick locks?” Tim proudly responded.

“Damn teenager,” Bruce ground out.

“Come on,” Diana urged him, untangling herself from him. “Let’s go. You don’t want to keep Nicholas waiting. He’s been so excited about it.”

“He’s not even two years old yet,” Bruce pointed out, his fingers running down the length of her arm. “He won’t remember any of it anyway.”

“Bruce!” Diana cried as she circled around to his side of the bed. Taking his hand in hers, she attempted to coax him from bed only to find herself being pulled on top of him with a loud squeal of surprise.

“I’m going to get Nicholas!” Tim threatened.

“We’ll be down in ten minutes,” Bruce told him, his arms circling around his wife to hold her right where he wanted her.

“Bruce, we need to go,” she said with a laugh. “I’m anxious to see Nicholas’s reaction to his Christmas presents.”

“And I want to give you your Christmas present in private,” he told her with a devious smirk.

“I believe you already did,” she seductively replied, kissing him lightly on the lips.

He threaded his fingers through her raven hair, deepening the kiss. “There’s more to it,” he claimed. “That was just the beginning.”

“Beginning of what?”

“You and me flying to our house in the Caribbean tonight,” he revealed. “I cleared both of our schedules for the next four days.”

“Are you serious?” she asked with a surprised grin.

“You and me and no one else for four whole days,” he reassured her.

“Six more minutes!” Tim suddenly yelled through the door.

Bruce’s eyes fell closed in frustration, his body growing tense. Diana kissed the tip of his nose. “Let’s go,” she told him. “You can show me the rest of my Christmas present tonight while skinny-dipping in the ocean.”

Bruce grinned up at her. “I love the sound of that.”

**_Christmas morning; 07:32 EST_ **

“Don’t just sit there, Tim,” Dick said. “Let’s open them up!”

“Just give me a minute, all right?” Tim replied with a huff as he sorted through the pile of presents. “I’m trying to figure out which gifts are which.”

Bruce couldn’t help but smile at Dick’s impatience. He was the oldest of his children and he was being the most impatient of all four, but only by a very slight margin. Bruce had his hands full trying to contain a very exuberant Nicholas who was literally bouncing in Bruce’s lap in anxious anticipation, clapping his hands and squealing excitedly. 

It put a smile on Bruce’s face to see Nicholas so excited about Christmas. It infused him with such love and warmth, something that had been sorely missing from his life before he had allowed himself to love Diana. Christmas had been something that he had avoided at all cost. Now, he found himself looking forward to moments like these with his family.

He glanced over at Kaia who was sitting propped up in Diana’s lap, completely enthralled with all the lights on the Christmas tree. She stretched out her little hand towards the lights as if she could actually reach them from where she sat, her eyes wide with wonder. She was sucking furiously on her pacifier, the pink plastic handle bobbing forcefully. He swore one of these times she was going to swallow that thing whole.

“Okay, this one is for Dick,” Tim announced, handing the box over to his older brother. “And this one is for Donna.”

“Thanks, Tim,” Donna said as she took her gift.

“You better hurry it up, Tim, or Nicholas is going to attack that pile of gifts like Flash at a buffet,” Bruce warned him, holding his toddler back.

“Here you go, little bro,” Tim proudly said, setting a large box down in front of Nicholas.

Nicholas jabbered excitedly, bouncing on his legs. Wearing his red Flash footed pajamas, he looked a little like the scarlet speedster ready to pounce. “Okay, Nick, have at it,” Bruce told him.

Nicholas immediately set to work, his little fists gripping and ripping at the brightly colored wrapping paper. The box was nearly as tall as he was, the top of his head barely seen above the present from Dick and Donna. He squealed with equal parts excitement and frustration as he struggled to get the paper off the box.

Bruce leaned forward with a laugh, helping Nicholas get a better grasp on a large piece of wrapping paper. He tore through it, shrieking at the picture of a blue tricycle on the outside of the box. He quickly tried tearing into the box, becoming more than a little frustrated when his little fingers couldn’t get it open.

“Here, why don’t you open the rest of your presents and we’ll get this out later,” Bruce decided, moving the box aside. “Can you tell Dick and Donna thank you?”

Nicholas ran over to the couple sitting on the floor, launching himself into Dick’s arms. Dick swiftly caught him, tossing him up into the air and catching him. Nicholas kissed him on the cheek, wrapping his arms around his neck and hugging him with all he had.

“Love you, buddy,” Dick told him, the sincerity in his voice more than obvious.

Nicholas moved onto Donna before running back to Bruce to start the next round of gifts. Bruce helped Nicholas as he worked to open his next gift, Diana mesmerized by the scene playing out before her as everyone opened up one present after another. She couldn’t stop smiling, warmth flooding her heart as she watched her family opening their presents. She had wanted this with Bruce for so long that, now that it was here, she could hardly believe that it wasn’t just a wonderful dream. 

Dick and Tim had accepted her into their family and their hearts as if she had always been here, Alfred treating her like his very own daughter. The love that had developed between Dick and her sister Donna only served to make their life together that much more special, further cementing their bond as a family. She couldn’t have asked for a better life than the one that she was living now. 

Glancing down at her baby girl in her lap, she couldn’t wait to see Kaia’s excitement next year when she could open up her own presents. She was already captivated with all that was going on, the decorations and the excitement that surrounded her. Diana knew it would only grow next year.

Tim handed her a gift that had Kaia’s name on it, one that was from Alfred. Kaia reached for the box, touching it with her tiny fingers. She kicked her legs, not sure about what was actually going on, but sensing that this was something fun.

Diana pulled the ribbon and paper off for her, opening the box to reveal a teddy bear with a pink ribbon around its neck. “Look, Kaia,” Diana cooed. “It’s a teddy bear.”

Kaia reached out to touch the soft fuzzy fur of her teddy bear, kicking her legs again and sucking even harder on her pacifier. Diana handed the gift to Kaia who quickly grabbed onto the soft stuffed animal, holding on to it for dear life. She had a feeling that Kaia wasn’t going to be letting it go any time soon.

“Thank you, Alfred,” Diana said. “I have a feeling it’s going to be her very favorite.”

Alfred beamed in response, more than pleased that his granddaughter loved her bear. “I thought of her the moment I saw it.”

“Here, this one is for Bruce,” Tim announced, handing a box to his father. “It’s from mom.”

Bruce looked up at Diana, a soft tentative smile gracing her face as she bit her bottom lip. He opened his present, stunned to find a very nice watch. “How did you know I needed a new watch?” he asked, taken aback as he took it out of the box.

“Just had a feeling,” she ominously replied with a grin as she glanced at Alfred out of the corner of her eye. “Look at the back.”

Turning it over, Bruce found on inscription engraved on the back of the watch, one that caused a lump to form in his throat. “All that I have, all that I am forever. Diana.”

He looked up at his wife, gazing at her with love in his eyes. “Thank you, Princess,” he softly said.

Diana smiled at him, relieved that he seemed to like his gift. “You’re welcome.”

“What does it say?” Dick asked.

“That is between Miss Diana and Master Bruce,” Alfred interrupted. “Now, if we are finally done, I have a very large breakfast ready and waiting.”

“Awesome!” Tim yelled. “I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving,” Dick countered, ruffling Tim’s hair as he picked Nicholas up in his arms.

“You should talk, bird boy,” Donna remarked from behind the two boys, Kaia in her arms as she followed them out of the living room.

Alone once more, Bruce moved to sit on the floor in front of Diana, his watch in hand. “I love my gift,” he told her, “but I love you even more.”

Diana smiled, leaning in to kiss him. “I can’t wait to go away with you tonight,” she replied. “Do you think they’ll be able to handle the kids without us for a few days?”

“They did before,” Bruce pointed out. “I’m sure they can handle it again.”

“Yes, but that was before Kaia was born,” she reminded him.

“Kaia is no trouble,” he reassured her. “Now, trying to keep up with Nicholas is a whole other story.”

“He’s a good boy,” she maintained. “He’s just active and curious…like his father.”

“He’s a very good boy,” he agreed, “but he’s energetic and mischeivious like his mother.”

“There is nothing wrong with being energetic and mischeivious,” she claimed. “You certainly don’t seem to mind it.”

“I never said that I minded it,” he replied with a crooked grin, pulling a small box out of his pants pocket. “It looks like you missed a gift.”

“Bruce, you shouldn’t have,” she told him. “Just being alone with you for the next few days is all I want.”

“So I guess I should just take this back,” Bruce guessed, trying to take the box out of Diana’s hands.

“No,” she cried, taking her gift back. “You went to all the trouble so the least I can do is open it.”

Bruce grinned at her, chuckling softly. “I hope you like it, Princess.”

Diana opened it to find a beautiful necklace with a heart shaped locket. Unclasping it, she found a picture of Nicholas and Kaia inside. Tears filling her eyes blurred her vision as she held her locket in her hand, staring at the picture.

Looking up, she found Bruce staring at her, a smile curling his lips. “Look on the back.”

Turning it over, Diana found an inscription engraved on the back. “My heart, my love, my life…forever.”

Diana lunged towards him, kissing him hard and stealing his breath. It wasn’t until a throat clearing cough forcing them apart did they come up for air. “Breakfast is getting cold,” Alfred informed them.

“Coming,” Bruce breathlessly replied as he got to his feet, offering his hand to his princess.

Diana pulled him into another heated kiss, nuzzling her nose against his before saying, “I still have to properly wish you a Merry Christmas tonight.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Princess,” he said with a grin, taking her by the hand and leading her to their waiting family.

**THE END**


	7. Afternoon Delight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana finally makes good on her promise to surprise Bruce at his office at Wayne Enterprises. Taken from Chp 39 and 42 of Raising Nicholas. BMWW sexy squee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: All right I have to warn you this turned out a lot steamier than I had anticipated so please forgive me for that. I wrote this a couple of months ago and actually forgot to post it with all the other BMWW fics I've got going. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Afternoon Delight

Bruce sat at his desk in his office at Wayne Enterprises, an annoyed frown on his face as he glared at the stack of files before him. It had been a long, stressful week full of meetings during the day and lengthy patrols at night. It had also been several days since he’d been able to spend any sort of time with his wife.

He missed her greatly; a constant ache setting up residence inside of him that craved her touch and longed to kiss her, to feel her feminine curves pressed against his in all the amazing places. Hopefully, once this day was over, he could spend some much needed time with her.

Glancing at the pictures of his family on his desk, he couldn’t help but smile softly. He looked at the picture of Nicholas and Kaia, warmed by the sight of them that reminded him so much of Diana. They were getting so big, his baby girl almost six months old and his son twenty-one months. It seemed like only yesterday that Diana had shown up in the Batcave to tell him she was pregnant with his child and he had asked her to marry him.

He turned his attention to the frame next to it, their engagement picture staring back at him. The way Diana was gazing at him only served to stir his loneliness, the smile on her beautiful face and the love shining in her eyes causing him to miss her even more than before. 

It hadn’t helped matters any that she had been gone the last three days on a diplomatic mission. He couldn’t wait until she returned home tonight. It had been far too long since he’d been with her, held her or had even been able to just talk to her about ever came to mind. Some of their best conversations had come in the stillness of the early morning after he’d returned from patrol.

With a sigh of frustration, he turned his attention back to the work at hand, hoping that if he buried himself even further into his work, it would make the time go by faster until he could finally see her. He grumpily decided that she was not allowed to be gone for more than one day at most from now on, thinking that maybe he should make it a rule in the League.

Do not take the Batman’s wife away for more than one day.

It sounded like a very plausible idea to him, one that he was beginning to like more and more. While he’d done rather well as a temporary single parent while she’d been gone, he knew he couldn’t take all the credit. Alfred and Tim had been a god-send. Trying to take care of two small children at once was akin to absolute mayhem, especially when both were crying at the exact same time.

Reaching for his cup of coffee, Bruce was startled by the unexpected flash of bright light that erupted in his office, his wife abruptly appearing out of thin air. “Diana?” he uttered in sheer surprise as he stared at her in stunned disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

She smiled something sinful at him, a plan firmly set in her mind as she turned and bolted his office door before responding to him. “I got back early so I thought I’d surprise you,” she replied, a predatory gleam in her eyes as she stared back at him with a grin on her ruby red lips. “I seem to remember a debt that I still need to pay.”

His expression turned puzzled as he tried to process what was going on, wondering why she was wearing a long dark blue trench coat. “What debt are you talking about?”

She slowly untied the belt on her coat as her lips curved into a seductive smirk. “For making you do that training session with Booster Gold last year,” she playfully reminded him. “I believe you mentioned something about a surprise visit…in your office…in very little clothing. I thought now was the perfect time to pay up.”

Bruce groaned as her trench coat fell open, exposing what she was wearing underneath it…or what she wasn’t wearing underneath it. His throat instantly went dry as the coat slowly slipped down her arms to pool on the floor, revealing a generous expanse of skin and a navy blue lace bra that was barely containing her ample breasts and a tiny pair of matching panties. His gaze slowly raked over her body, travelling down her long legs to the navy blue thigh-high lace-top stockings that led him down to the spike heels that adorned her feet.

He released a long, slow breath as he hungrily drank her in, his mind going numb as his heart began to pound in his chest as well as his ears. “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,” he muttered with a low, drawn-out groan.

“I’ve missed you too,” she replied, “and I’m here to show you just how much.”

Diana slowly sauntered to him, allowing the sway of her hips to mesmerize him like the gentle sway of a pendulum. His hands moved to grip the armrests of his chair as he turned to face her, his mind trying to catch up to the way his body was already beginning to respond to her. He slowly began to stand up only for her forefinger to gently push him back into his chair.

“I’m here to please you…to show you how much I love you…and how much I missed you,” she purred as she leaned over to plant kisses along his jaw, her hands covering his on the armrests and keeping him right where she wanted him. “You don’t have to do a single thing.”

It was all Bruce could do to keep from grabbing her and ravishing her senseless, but the firm hold of her hands on his kept him from being able to touch her. The strain in his pants was already becoming unbearable and she hadn’t even touched him yet. He had a feeling he wasn’t going to last long at this rate, but who could with a half-naked Amazon in his office who had come to seduce him in the middle of the afternoon?

Diana tilted her head, slowly kissing and nipping along his chiseled jaw towards his ear, her warm breath causing him to shiver in anticipation. “I hope your office is soundproof because it could get quite…intense…in here,” she whispered in his ear.

Bruce groaned, his body twitching and hips already bucking in anticipation. Her pulsating breath was causing zings of pleasure to repeatedly race up his spine. “Yes, it is most definitely soundproof,” he growled through clenched teeth, trying to regain command of his breathing.

“Good,” she throatily replied as she nibbled on his earlobe, sucking on it and raking her teeth over it. “Because I have plans for you, husband.”

“Li…like…what?” he managed to hoarsely choke out, annoyed with the tremble that filled his voice. He was usually more in control than this, but she had a powerful hold on him, unlike anyone he’d ever met before. He had felt that control beginning to unravel the moment her coat fell open.

“Patience, Bruce,” she uttered with a sultry tone that was doing nothing ease his desire for her. “You’re about to find out. Now, don’t…move.”

His breath hitched as her teeth scraped against the sensitive spot behind his ear that drove him wild, his frustration skyrocketing for a different reason now. His entire body tensed as she slowly began to undo his tie, pulling it free from his dress shirt only to drape it around her neck.

Bruce groaned, his breath coming out in a heated rush with the sight of his tie hanging loosely around his wife’s neck. It was more than a arousing to see it lying against her lace bra, a stark contrast between power and seduction. 

He didn’t have time to dwell on it, though, as her fingers slid beneath his suit jacket and pushed it off his shoulders. Removing it, she tossed it over her shoulder without a second glance, her fingers leisurely undoing each button of his dress shirt as her lips unhurriedly descended on his throat. He sank further back into his chair, his eyes falling closed as she followed the path of her fingers with the warmth of her lips and tongue.

Unable to keep from touching her a moment longer, he swiftly buried his fingers into her raven hair, holding her right where he wanted her as she teased his nipple. Pushing his shirt off his shoulders, she settled onto his lap, her knees on either side of his hips, her fingernails lightly scraping over his chest as she kissed along his collarbone.

“Princess…” he throatily moaned, pressing his head back against his chair with the pleasure racing through him, fisting her hair tightly in his hands as he held on to her for dear life.

Her lips curved against his collarbone as she began to caress his abdominal muscles that were chiseled like the finest granite. He bit his bottom lip as she worked his belt buckle free before unbuttoning his pants. He shifted to allow her to pull his pants and boxer briefs down past his hips, his heart racing with anticipation of what was coming next.

Bruce gasped sharply as she began to stroke him, her lips repeatedly raking over his pulse point. He roughly pulled her up, crushing his lips to hers and drinking her in like a man dying of thirst as he firmly gripped her face with his hands. His tongue plundered her mouth with a hunger that only she could begin to satiate, praying that no one attempted to interrupt them right now.

Breaking the kiss for much needed air, his head fell back as he panted heavily, growing lightheaded with the pleasure coursing hotly through his veins. He moaned her name as she continued to stroke him, taking him to the edge only to back off just enough to keep him from falling apart.

He was growing more and more desperate to be deep inside of her, yearning for the release that she was continually denying him. She was driving him absolutely mad, taking him to the brink before easing him away from it. If he didn’t have her soon, he swore he’d go insane.

“Diana…please…” he gasped. “I…need…”

“What do you need?” she seductively teased as she released her hold on him, her lips pressing against his ear.

“You…”

He gasped in relief only to growl in heated frustration at being left hanging like that. He quickly wrapped his arms around her, unfastening her bra and pulling it free. He rapidly descended on her breasts, feasting on her and causing her to cry out with pleasure with the feel of his hot mouth on her skin.

Unable to stand it any longer, he tore her panties free and grabbed her hips, guiding her down onto him and completely sheathing himself deep inside of her. They both gasped with the sudden union, reveling in the feeling of finally being together again after what felt like an eternity of being apart.

“I’ve missed you…so much,” he murmured, breathing erratic as he kissed and nipped along her throat.

Diana’s head fell back as his hands explored her, finding her breasts and kneading them as she began to move her hips over him. His heart was hammering wildly as they made love, grunting his pleasure with every sweet slam of her hips against his.

Perspiration formed on his brow as he captured her lips in a heated kiss; sweat tricking down her back as his fingers threaded through her hair again, his other hand gripping her hip firmly. He swallowed her moan as she moved her hips faster; needing the release that only he could provide her.

Her lips broke free from his as her mouth fell open with a gasp; her head falling back as she tightly gripped his shoulders. “Bruce…Bruce…” she repeatedly murmured his name, moans and cries punctuating his name.

Bruce swore under his breath with the painful feel of her fingernails finding purchase in his shoulders and yet it only turned him on even more. She suddenly came undone with a thrilling cry of Greek words that he couldn’t begin to decipher with the euphoric haze that gripped his mind at that moment. He came with a shuddering pant of her name that was like a plea for salvation as he held her perfect form close to him.

She rested her forehead against his shoulder as she struggled to catch her breath. He turned his head and nudged her cheek, needing to kiss her again. Their lips met in a sweet, gentle exchange as they caressed each other, trying to catch their breaths.

“I love you…Princess…” he breathed out the words as he kissed along her cheek to her ear. “I can’t take you being gone like that.”

She chuckled softly as he teased her earlobe, her teeth raking over her bottom lip as she ground her hips against him. He groaned with the feel of her still so hot and tight around him, more than anxious for a repeat performance. 

“I love you too,” she replied. “Am I paid in full now?”

He kissed along her shoulder, his hands roaming over her back. “Only if you promise to surprise me at work like this again,” he murmured against her skin.

“I don’t know,” she hummed as she tilted her head to give more of herself to him. “You tore my panties and I’m not even sure if my bra is in one piece anymore.”

“I’ll buy you a whole lingerie store if I have to,” he teased with a grin as he used the ends of his tie to pull her in for another kiss.

“Can you come home now?” she asked. “Perhaps we can continue this…in a more comfortable setting.”

“Well, seeing how I have been divested of most of my clothes and my tie is around your neck, I think now would be a good time to call it a day,” he decided. “Besides, I think we’re both kind of a sticky mess right now. I believe a shower is in order.”

She grinned wickedly at him as she clenched her internal muscles around him. “I thought you would see it my way.”

“You do have me at a bit of a disadvantage, especially with the position we’re currently in,” he responded with a thrust of his hips, causing her to gasp sharply at the unexpected movement beneath her.

“Bruce…I want you…again,” she throatily begged him, rotating her hips and nearly causing his eyes to roll back in his head.

“You’re making it more than difficult to think straight, Princess,” he muttered with a groan as he reached for his phone. “Carol, take the rest of the day off. I’m going home as well. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Hanging up, he picked up his cell phone, remoting in to the computer in the Batcave. He quickly entered the coordinates that he wanted, transporting them both straight to their bedroom in the manor. Looking around, Diana was more pleased to find them in their bed. She leaned over and began kissing him, more than anxious to continue what she had started.

“Wait…” he managed to say. “Where are the kids?”

“Alfred and Tim took them to the park for the afternoon,” she told him as she kissed along his neck. “We have the whole house to ourselves until dinner.”

A devious grin spread across his face as his hands came to rest on her back. “Well then…” he whispered as he flipped her onto her back. “We need to make up for lost time.”

Diana squealed in surprise as she found herself on her back looking up into the handsome face of her husband. She decided it paid to be gone for three days. While it had been difficult being away from her family, the passionate reunion with her husband made it more than worth it.


	8. Themyscira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wayne family goes on vacation to Themyscira to visit Hippolyta.

Themyscira

“Sit still, Tim,” Bruce snapped from the co-pilot’s seat.

Even though his middle son was sitting behind him, he could practically feel the excitement vibrating off him. They still had a half an hour or so before they’d even reach the magically protected island, his patience already brittle in anticipation of how this family vacation was going to go.

This had international incident written all over it.

Diana gave her husband a sidelong glance, a smirk playing at the corner of her lips as she piloted the invisible jet. “Nervous, Bruce?” she teased.

Her husband leveled a dark scowl at her before his attention back to the ocean view he was afforded from his co-pilot’s chair. “Wouldn’t you be anxious going to an island that despises men?” he demanded to know. “You and Kaia are the only two are truly safe.”

Diana tried to stifle her giggle with her hand, but it escaped none the less, only adding to her husband’s surly mood. “Bruce, mother already warned all of my sisters not to harm any of you. You are all to be treated with the utmost respect as her extended family.”

“You already told me that, but it doesn’t make me feel much better,” he grumbled as he folded his arms against his chest. “Phillipus has a twitchy finger. Having four males on the island is only going to make her that much more anxious to castrate one of us.”

“Bruce Wayne, Phillipus is a trusted friend and a general of the Amazon army,” Diana maintained. “She will do whatever it takes to protect any one of us.”

“And what about Artemis?”

“Artemis is harmless,” she told him.

Bruce’s head snapped to the side to stare at her in stunned disbelief. “Seriously?” he stated. “Do you not remember your mother showing up at the manor, prepared to take you home when you were pregnant with Nicholas? Artemis nearly took your arm off with that sword of hers.”

“It was a small cut,” Diana patiently corrected him, “and it was just an accident.”

“Small cut?” he nearly cried. “I could barely stop the bleeding. I almost had to stitch your arm back together.”

“It was all healed in a couple of days and you’re making far more of it than it actually was.”

“I had just proposed to the woman I loved and who, by the way, was carrying my baby when my future mother-in-law shows up with four Amazon warriors ready to take you away from me and slice me to shreds,” he reminded her. “How is that making more of it than it actually was?”

“I never would’ve left with them or let them hurt you,” she reassured him.

Hearing Kaia crying, Bruce got to his feet, a few choice words mumbled under his breath as he went back to retrieve his daughter from her car seat. Alfred was reading to Nicholas who was sitting on his lap while Tim sat in his seat with his headphones on watching a movie on his laptop.

Picking up his daughter, he retrieved her favorite pink blanket as well as her sippy cup before returning to his seat. “It’s not that I’m against going to see your mother,” he began, trying to put his anxiety into words. “It’s just that there could be some fanatical Amazons who still cling to the old ways. They could see our arrival as an opportunity for a revolt. They could try to hurt Hippolyta by going after you or one of the children.”

“I’ll admit there are some who have raised some serious concerns about allowing men on the island, but mother assured them this is only limited to me and my family.”

Kaia sleepily snuggled into her father’s hold, taking her sippy cup in one hand and her blanket in the other. The blanket had been a present from Aunt Donna and had quickly became as much of a necessity as the stuffed bunny was to Nicholas.

“Did you have a good nap, baby girl?” Diana asked Kaia.

Kaia nodded her head in response before resting it against Bruce’s chest. He rubbed her back as she took a drink of her juice, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. He tried to smooth out her soft, raven curls with his fingers, but they seemed to have a mind of their own today. 

“Her hair is getting long,” he absentmindedly noticed. “Nicholas is going to need another haircut soon.”

“Do you think he’ll do better this time?” Diana asked. “He didn’t exactly enjoy it the first time around.”

“He’ll be fine,” he told her. “He just didn’t understand what was going on. It was his first haircut.”

“He had a meltdown. He cried for an hour afterwards.”

“He’s older now,” Bruce pointed out. “I’m sure he’ll do better this time.”

“Bruce, that was over a month ago,” she reminded him. “He hasn’t grown that much.”

An alarm beeped, altering them to the fact that they were approaching Themyscira despite the fact it could not be seen. Diana began to navigate the plane towards the unseen island, anxious to see her mother and sisters.

She wished that Dick and Donna could have come along, but Donna couldn’t get away from work to come. Because Donna couldn’t go, Dick had volunteered to stay home to watch over Gotham along with Oracle, Black Canary, and Zatanna.

The island suddenly came to view right before their eyes, a literal tropical paradise popping up out of an endless ocean of blue. “We’re here,” Diana excitedly exclaimed.

“It’s about time,” Tim replied, putting his laptop away.

Diana could hardly wait for her mother to meet Kaia. Her daughter was nearly seven months old and her mother had yet to meet her. She’d be so surprised by how much Nicholas had grown since the last time she had seen him. He was two years old, more a little boy than a baby now.

Bruce glanced at his wife, noticing the sheer joy that being back home brought her. He felt guilty for his paranoia, but there was nothing that he wouldn’t do to protect his family. He was prepared to take on the entire Amazon army single-handedly if he had to in order to keep them safe.

Diana carefully landed the jet, her anticipation nearly getting the better of her as she sprang up out of her seat. “Now, let me go first,” she cautioned them. “I don’t want anyone getting a spear to the head.”

Bruce’s hand immediately shot to firmly grip her arm, pulling her to a stop. “What?” he growled.

“I’m just teasing,” she reassured him, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek. “I’m sure everything will be just fine.”

Holding Kaia close to his chest, he warily began to follow her, Alfred carrying Nicholas and Tim following close behind him. “Why don’t I believe you?” he muttered with a frown.

Leading the way down the ramp, Diana nearly bolted from the jet as she spotted her mother approaching, followed by a large entourage of her sisters. She forced herself to slow down as she stepped foot on the sands of her home for the first time in far too long. While this would always be her place of birth, her real home was in Gotham with Bruce and her family.

“My little sun and stars,” Hippolyta greeted her with open arms, embracing her as Bruce appeared at the bottom of the ramp with a little girl in his arms. “Is that my Kaia?”

Diana pulled back to look behind her, motioning for the rest of her family to come join her. “This is Kaia Alexandrea,” she introduced her daughter to her mother.

Bruce handed over Kaia to Hippolyta who happily took the little girl into her arms. “My little sunbeam,” Hippolyta softly cooed, leaning down to kiss her forehead. “She looks exactly as you did when you were her age, Diana.”

Bruce smiled as he watched Hippolyta with his daughter, imagining this was how she was with Diana. It warmed his heart to witness it, knowing there were no pictures of Diana growing up on Themyscira, nothing that depicted what she would have looked like as a little girl. He was getting a glimpse of it now through his daughter.

“Yiayia!” Nicholas cried when he saw his grandmother.

Hippolyta’s face lit up at the sight of him as well as the Greek nickname for grandmother. “How did he know that?” she asked, looking to Diana as she handed Kaia back to Bruce.

“We’ve been working on our Greek,” Diana told her as Hippolyta took Nicholas from Alfred. “Alfred is Pappoús.”

“You’re getting to be such a big boy, Nicholas. I’m so happy you came to visit me. I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks now,” Hippolyta told him, kissing him on the temple before turning her attention to the teenager standing shyly beside Diana. “I swear you’ve grown another foot since I last saw you, Tim.”

“Hi, Hippolyta,” he said with a grin. He was actually more than a little excited about being here and getting to see Hippolyta again, but he was doing his best to remain cool. After all, he was going to be turning eighteen and graduating from high school this year.

“It’s Polly to you, young man,” she lovingly scolded with a twinkle in her eye. “None of this formal business with family. Alfred, so good of you to come along to keep an eye on this unruly bunch.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Queen Hippolyta,” Alfred replied with a bow.

“Alfred, when are you going to learn to call me Polly?”

“Likely never,” Bruce muttered under his breath, receiving a sharp elbow to the ribs from his wife.

“Come, let me show you all to your rooms,” Hippolyta said, Nicholas playing with the lavishly jeweled necklace that adorned her neck. “I’m sure you’d all like to get cleaned up before dinner. We’re having a huge celebration feast tonight in honor of your visit.”

Diana could hardly believe this was the mother she had known all her life, watching Hippolyta turn to lead them back to the palace with Nicholas in her arms. Bruce took her hand in his as they began to follow, noticing her stunned expression.

“What’s the matter, Princess?” he murmured low in her ear.

“I cannot believe this is the same woman who banished me for allowing men on the island,” she replied with a shake of her head. “She’s so different, so much more relaxed than she’s ever been.”

“I guess having a son-in-law and grandsons will do that to you,” he lightly teased her.

“I guess so,” she said with a sigh.

Entering the palace, Hippolyta led them towards their rooms. Alfred and Tim were across the hall, Nicholas and Kaia set up in an adjoining room to their parents’ while Bruce and Diana were situated in Diana’s old bedroom.

Alfred and Hippolyta took Kaia and Nicholas to get them changed and ready for dinner while Tim began unpacking his things. Bruce slowly walked around Diana’s bedroom, picturing her studying here at her desk or reading by the window that overlooked the ocean.

As he stared out the window, he felt familiar arms slip around his waist as warm lips kissed along the back of his neck. “I’ve never had a man in my bedroom before,” she murmured in a sultry tone.

Bruce felt desire shiver up his spine as his lips curved into a sinful grin. “Why, Princess…are you trying to besmirch my honor?”

A blast of warm breath against his neck as she laughed in response to his teasing caused gooseflesh to ripple over his arms. He turned around, swiftly enveloping her in his embrace and holding her close against him as his lips claimed hers.

She moaned something throaty and sultry as she melted into his embrace, wishing they had time for more as his large hands moved to firmly grip her backside. His tongue plundering her mouth nearly pushed her over the edge, but the knowledge that her mother would be coming for them soon forced her to pull away from her ravenous husband.

“We are definitely picking up tonight…where we left off,” she breathlessly told him.

He reluctantly released her, but not before kissing the tip of her nose. “I’m holding you to it, Princess,” he replied. “I can’t wait to see all your favorite places, where you got into trouble.”

“I never got into trouble,” Diana insisted, head held high. “I was the perfect daughter at all times.”

Bruce chuckled with her denial, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her back into his hold. “I’m going to schedule a little one-on-one time with your mother so I get the low-down on your childhood.”

“You wouldn’t!” she gasped.

“Yes, I would,” he stated with a grin. “You and Tim have had far too much fun getting Alfred to tell stories of my childhood at my expense. It’s time I got some revenge by getting some dirt on you for a change.”

Before Diana could try to convince him otherwise, someone knocked at the door. Opening it, she found her mother standing there with Kaia in her arms. She knew it was going to be next to impossible getting her daughter back during their time here, but she didn’t mind. It was worth it to see her mother so happy.

“Ready to go eat?” Hippolyta asked, Alfred with Nicholas and Tim standing behind her.

“I know I am,” Bruce agreed, taking Diana by the hand and leading her from the bedroom he couldn’t wait to return to with her later tonight. “Hippolyta, I have some things that I’d love to know about your daughter.”

“Bruce!” Diana cried.

XXX

Bruce looked around at the family gathered at the low table, a sense of peaceful contentment settling over him and wrapping him up like a warm blanket. He sat Indian style on a large cushion on the floor, Nicholas settled into the hole in his lap with his bunny firmly in hand.

To his right, Hippolyta sat at the head of the table, Alfred sitting to his left. Across from Bruce was Diana with Kaia in her lap, Tim sitting beside her and across from Alfred. The expression on Tim’s face was amusing as he tried to take in the ancient surroundings that were rather quite magnificent to behold firsthand. Wayne Manor could easily fit inside the palace.

Glancing around the room as they began to serve the food, Bruce noted every single entrance, every window, noticed where each guard was stationed and the weapons they each carried. His gaze connected with Phillipus who instantly recognized the tactical planning that he was doing. She tipped her head slightly to him in approval, a faint smile on her lips.

Knowing that he was only trying to protect his family and prepare himself for a possible attack that may come, garnered a measure of respect from the Amazon general. He nodded his head at her in silent appreciation for her presence and understanding.

Moving on, he noticed several of the guards were glaring darkly at him, obviously blaming him for stealing and deflowering their beloved princess. He merely smiled at them, proud of the fact that Diana belonged to him now and not them.

A couple of them tightened their grip on their weapons, but didn’t allow their hatred for him to bypass the queen’s commands. He turned his attention to his wife, somewhat surprised to find her staring at him with a smirk on her lips.

He tilted his head slightly in question. She only shook her head, knowing exactly what he had been doing. “Mother, will you please reassure Bruce that no one is going to try to remove his head…or any other body parts while we’re here?”

“I have given full orders that no one is to bring harm to any of you,” Hippolyta reassured him. “The palace guards have been ordered to protect you all with their lives if necessary.”

“So you do expect something to happen?” Bruce asked her.

Hippolyta frowned at him as she took her glass of wine. “No, of course not,” she replied. “I’m just saying that you are more than safe here. I want you all to relax and enjoy your stay.”

“What are doing tomorrow?” Tim asked as he dug into his meal with gusto.

“I thought we could spend some time on the beach,” Hippolyta suggested. “There’s also horseback riding or I could give you a full tour of the island.”

“I personally want to hear each and every story you can tell me about Diana as a child,” Bruce told her.

“Tell him nothing, mother,” Diana sternly warned her. “He’s only trying to get revenge.”

Hippolyta chuckled at her daughter and husband, their banter amusing her. “I take it Alfred has relayed some interesting tales about your childhood, Bruce?”

“You could say that,” he grumbled as he helped Nicholas take a bite of a grape.

“Yes!” Tim excitedly exclaimed. “Tell Polly about the time Bruce—”

“She doesn’t want to hear stories about me,” Bruce quickly interjected, stopping the conversation from the path it was hurtling down.

“Actually, I’d love to know more about my son-in-law,” Hippolyta countered with a grin. “It’s high time we get to know each other better.”

“Maybe later,” Bruce mumbled.

“How about for every story you tell me, I’ll tell you an embarrassing story about Diana,” Hippolyta negotiated.

“Mother!” Diana cried in indignation. “You will do no such thing!”

“Do we have a deal?” she asked Bruce, ignoring her daughter.

“Deal,” he readily agreed with a smile at his wife. “It’s only fair, Princess.”

“It doesn’t seem very fair to me,” Diana decided as she fed Kaia.

XXX

Diana closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the ocean. While she loved Gotham and her family, there was just something about being home on Themyscira where she grew up that she longed for at times. Being here on the beach now with the people she loved just made it that much more special.

She could barely contain her giggle as she turned to see Alfred approaching in a short sleeve Hawaiian shirt and shorts. It was so strange to see the refined British butler in something other than his typical formal wear that he chose to ear every day.

Noticing the amusement on the princess’s face, Alfred gave her a little twirl to show off his outfit. “Do you approve of my clothes, your highness?”

“You look great, Alfred,” she told him with a grin. “You’re going to have to beat the ladies off you.”

“I don’t know about that,” Alfred admitted as he settled into a chair next to her.

Alfred couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched Kaia pick up the sand in her small hand only to release it with great fascination. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she patted the sand beneath her before digging her tiny fingers into it again in order to pick up more of the grains.

“She’s been doing that for the last half an hour,” Diana informed him.

“You can see the little wheels turning in her head, trying to figure it all out,” Alfred commented, a proud grandfatherly smile on his face. “Reminds me so much of Master Bruce when he was young.”

“She looks nothing like me,” Bruce maintained as he approached with Nicholas in his arms.

“She is most definitely your daughter,” Diana countered, enjoying the very tantalizing sight of her handsome husband in swimming trunks and no shirt.

Bruce gave her a look that told her he knew what she was thinking as he set his son down on the sand next to Kaia. “Where’s Tim?” he asked, looking around to find his son missing.

“Out there swimming with my mother,” Diana revealed with a nod towards the ocean.

“Hippolyta?” Bruce exclaimed, surprised.

“Yes, my mother,” Diana confirmed, swiftly reaching for Kaia’s hand as she tried to lick the sand off her fingers. “No, Kaia. You can’t eat it.”

Kaia glared at her mother, putting her other hand in her mouth instead. She instantly began to sputter and cry, trying to get the sand out of her mouth. “You are the spitting image of your mother,” Bruce readily decided as he reached down to pick her up, handing Kaia her sippy cup to wash out her mouth.

“I was just about to say that she is most definitely her father’s daughter through and through,” Alfred commented.

Bruce glared at him as he held his daughter in his arms. “Let’s go try the water, Kaia,” he suggested, leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “Do you want to come too, Nicholas?”

“No, daddy,” Nicholas said, shaking his head.

“I promised Nicholas that we’d build a sand castle together,” Diana announced, moving to sit on the sandy beach with her son.

“High, mama…high,” he reminded her, holding his hands up in the air to show her how high he wanted it to make it.

“We’ll make it as tall as you want it,” she reassured him.

“Pappoús too?” Nicholas asked, pointing at Alfred.

“I’d love to help build a sand castle,” Alfred reassured him, much to Nicholas’s delight.

“Come on, Kaia,” Bruce said as he headed towards the water. “Let’s check on Tim and make sure he hasn’t drowned out there.”

Stepping into the water, he spotted two people swimming towards him. One of them had blond hair and was just barely keeping ahead of her competitor. He couldn’t believe Tim was losing to Hippolyta. He was going to have up Tim’s training regimen when they got home.

Hippolyta reached the shore first, Tim swiftly following a few seconds behind. “Woo-hoo!” Tim shouted excitedly as he pumped his fist, breathing heavily as he dropped to his knees on the sandy shore. “That was awesome!”

“She beat you,” Bruce pointed out with a frown.

“Who cares?” Tim exclaimed. “That was so totally cool. I got beat by the Queen of the Amazons, but I got to swim with real dolphins!”

Bruce shook his head in amazement, a smile on his face. “You really did?”

“Yah and it was so amazing,” Tim said. “She took me to this little cove where sea turtles like to go.”

Hippolyta sank onto the shore with Alfred, Kaia, and Diana, her face beaming. “I’m so happy you enjoyed it,” she said. “I used to take Diana and Donna there all the time when they were younger.”

“Diana was once young?” Bruce joked, crouching down in the water with Kaia who was splashing him and giggling loudly.

“Watch it there,” Diana warned him with a mock glare. “Don’t make me take you down right here in front of everyone.”

“If I weren’t holding my daughter, I would challenge you to try it, but I don’t want to embarrass you here in front of your family,” he taunted her.

“Hera,” Diana muttered with a roll of her eyes. “See what I have to put up with, mother?”

“You were the one who picked him to be your mate, my sun and stars,” Hippolyta told her. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with him.”

“Yah, Princess,” Bruce smugly said with a smirk, turning his head in an attempt to avoid Kaia splashing him in the face. “You’re stuck with me forever.”

With Bruce’s head momentarily turned, Diana gave a little nod to Tim who quickly picked up on her cue. Grabbing Kaia away from Bruce, Diana lunged towards her husband, taking him by surprise as she tackled him, pushing him under the water.

Releasing him, Diana stood up, wiping the water from her face. “He should learn never to mess with—”

Diana was unable to finish that sentence as a pair of muscular arms abruptly wrapped around her, picking her up and throwing her over his shoulder. “You should learn to never mess with me,” Bruce teased, carrying her deeper into the water.

“Bruce Wayne! Put me down or I’ll be forced to make you pay right here!” she hollered at him.

Nicholas giggled as he watched his parents play in the water, Kaia pointing at them and jabbering to Tim with a frown on her face. Alfred and Hippolyta shared a knowing look, trying to hide their grins as they watched the pair of superheroes wrestle in the water. It was obvious how very much in love Bruce and Diana truly were. It was something that brought Hippolyta immense happiness despite her initial hesitance.

Diana squealed as Bruce threw her into the water only to be brought down with her a moment later as she grabbed at him, determined not to go down alone. They wrestled beneath the water, each trying to gain the upper hand. Bruce gasped for air as he broke the surface, only to be brought back under by the determined Amazon.

Within moments, Diana finally broke the surface, a victorious grin on her face. “That ought to teach him,” she muttered as she began to walk back towards the beach.

She only took three steps before Bruce grabbed her around the ankles and pulled her back under as everyone watched with great amusement. “Do you think we should break it up before one of them drowns?” Tim asked the others.

“I’m not getting in the middle of that,” Hippolyta replied with a grin.

“I have to agree with the Queen,” Alfred readily decided.

“Bruce!” Diana yelled betweens squealing fits as he tickled her relentlessly.

“Surrender!” Bruce demanded, his arm firmly around her waist, keeping her trapped against his body.

“Not on your life!” she shouted between Greek curses.

“Watch that mouth, young lady, or I’ll have to wash it out,” Bruce threatened, hauling her back under the water.

Diana growled as she was brought back up out of the water, her wet raven hair in her face. “You are so going to pay for this, Bruce!”

“Is that a promise, Princess?” he teased.

Diana quickly flipped herself around, catching Bruce off guard as well as off-balanced. She summarily submerged him, managing to keep herself above water. Nicholas yelled at her from the sandy shore, worried about what had happened to his father.

“Mama!” Nicholas exclaimed. “Where’s daddy?”

“He’s fine, little warrior,” she assured him, looking around for her still submerged husband. “He’s around here somewhere.”

Turning, she missed Bruce coming up from behind her, wrapping her up in his arms. “Gotcha,” he yelled. “Truce, Princess?”

Diana glared at him, but couldn’t deny how tantalizing it felt to be pinned against his wet body. “Fine,” she murmured, kissing him hard on the lips. “Until tonight.”

He grinned wickedly at her, more than anxious for a repeat with her in the water with no audience and no clothes.

XXX

Lying a sleeping Kaia down in the crib, Diana turned to find Bruce standing in the doorway watching her, an adoring smile on his face. “What?” she asked.

Bruce slowly shook his head, trying to find the words to express what he was feeling. “There’s just something about watching you with Nicholas and Kaia. It makes me love you even more.”

Diana smiled softly as she closed the distance between them, her fingers wrapping around the collar of his shirt as she pulled him in for a heated kiss. “Care to finish this in the water?” she asked. “I owe you a repeat of this afternoon.”

Bruce smirked as he took her by the hand, leading her out of the room. “I’ve been looking forward to it all day.”

“Let me check on Nicholas first,” she said, crossing the hall to his room.

They stood in the doorway watching as Hippolyta sat on the bed with Nicholas on her lap, reading him a book before bedtime. The little boy was struggling to keep his eyes open, but was beginning to lose the fight as his eyelids grew heavier.

Hippolyta looked up from the book, shooing them away with her hand. “Go…have fun,” she whispered.

Bruce and Diana didn’t need to be told twice as they quickly changed back into their bathing suits before making their way out of the palace and back towards the beach. They found the large sandcastle that they had built this afternoon still there awaiting their arrival.

Grabbing her by the hand, Bruce led her into the warm water. He suddenly turned around, roughly pulling her up against him, their lips colliding with each other. They kissed for several long moments in the moonlight, the gentle sound of the water lapping against the sandy shore filling the air around them.

Bruce tilted his head, deepening the kiss. His tongue plundered her mouth, the passion between them erupting as his hands roamed over her body. She repeatedly stroked his sides before slipping her fingers beneath the waistband of his swimming shorts, sliding them down his hips.

Stepping out them, she tossed them back on the shore, her swimsuit quickly following. He explored every inch of her with his hands, his mouth following the path of his fingers as they trailed down her body to the water that lapped at her thighs.

Kissing his way back up her body, Diana gripped his face, pulling him in for another heated kiss. He reached down to grab hold of her legs, wrapping them around his waist. Their panting breaths and moans of ecstasy filled the still night air as they made love, their mutual release washing over them with an intensity that stunned both of them.

Kissing along her jaw, he found her earlobe, nibbling and teasing it until she was groaning with pleasure again, her breathing growing ragged. “I love you so much, Princess.”

“I love you too,” she breathlessly murmured, turning and capturing his lips. “Want to see where the sea turtles mate?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” he replied, reluctantly releasing his hold on her.

Bruce waited for a moment, watching her perfect body as she began to swim towards the hidden cove, his lust searing through him as he noticed how the moonlight glistened on her wet skin. Swimming after her, he readily admitted this was the best family vacation that he’d ever had.


	9. Reflections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set sometime during Raising Nicholas and before Kaia’s birth, Bruce reflects on the changes in his life. First from Bruce’s POV.

Reflections

Sitting at my computer in the cave, I finish typing up the last of the night’s patrol notes, updating files and performing a quick review of an open case I’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks. The flutter of batwings punctuates the solitude of my sanctuary, reminding me that I’m never truly alone down here in the dark chasm that I feel most comfortable in. To me, it’s a mirror of my soul, the things that lurk in the recesses away from the light.

Sinking back in my chair, I stretch my arms above my head, rolling my neck to remove the kinks that have settled there while being hunched over my keyboard. It’s been a long night and yet I’m surprisingly awake. It probably has something to do with the fact I have an amazing woman upstairs in our bed awaiting my return.

Recently, Gotham and the League have been taking up far more time than I would like, but hopefully things will slow down some now. I want to be here for my wife and family, especially with our little girl arriving in another three months. 

While I remain fully committed to my mission, I don’t want to look back on my life and find that I had missed out on those special moments with my wife and children. Before I lost my parents, some of my best loved memories from my childhood are when my father took time out of his busy schedule to spend with me. 

I am more than determined to be the best father that I can be, just like my father was for me in those short eight years that seem like nothing more than a faint ripple in the ocean of time. I’m anxious to recreate some of those same memories with my children—taking them camping, teaching them how to ride their first bike, learning to tie shoelaces and how to ride a horse.

My shoulder slump slightly as I think of my other sons. I know that I failed Dick and Tim…Jason, but I’m more than determined to make it up to Dick and Tim. Things are better than they’ve ever been with my two sons. It’s all because of Diana and her innate ability to draw everyone together and help smooth out the bumps with so little effort on her part. 

It’s an innate ability that I wish I possessed, but know that I don’t. I’m trying to do better with my communication skills, trying not to just shut everyone out when things get difficult, but it’s something that will always be a battle that I’ll have to fight.

I’m doing everything I can to be the kind of father that Tim needs, the one that I wasn’t before Diana opened my eyes as well as my heart. I feel guilty that I didn’t spend more time with him like I should’ve, but I’m trying to make up for it now.

“Hey, I’m heading to bed,” Tim announces as he approaches.

I turn to find him dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, his wet hair sticking up at odd angles. “You did good tonight,” I praise him. “You really handled those gang members well.”

Tim responds with a proud grin as he ducks his head slightly in embarrassment with the praise. “Thanks,” he answers as he runs his fingers back through his wet hair, making it stick up even worse. “I think those new training exercises you had me do are really paying off.”

“Good,” I reply with a nod. “We’ll move on to the next level.”

“Okay…wait, what?” Tim asks, confused. “We?”

“Yes, we,” I confirm. “We’ll work at it together. I just needed you to learn the basics first before I advanced you.”

“When can we start?”

The excitement on his face coexists with the disbelief still reflecting in his eyes. “We can start tomorrow after dinner if you want,” I offer.

“Awesome!” he exclaims. “I can’t wait.”

I turn back to my computer, a smirk on my lips. “Just be prepared to have your butt handed to you.”

“Oh, no way did you just say that,” Tim replies with a chuckle. “Be prepared to be schooled, old man.”

“Better get some sleep if you’re going to be able to back up your smack talk, little boy,” I counter.

“Can I say goodnight to Nicholas?” he asks. “I didn’t get to see him much today.”

“Sure,” I decide. “Just don’t wake him up.”

“I won’t,” Tim promises. “Good night, Bruce.”

“Night, Tim,” I murmur, turning my attention back to my work.

I add a couple more notes before quitting for the night…or I should say morning. I take a quick shower before heading up into the manor, pausing by the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. Heading upstairs, desire to see my wife is momentarily disrupted by thoughts of my young son.

Pausing outside of his bedroom door, I silently turn the handle before I poke my head inside. I hear his soft snore intermingled with babbling conversation. Whoever he thinks he’s talking to or whatever he thinks he’s saying is completely oblivious to me, but it puts a smile on my face nonetheless.

He stole my heart the second I held him in my arms, gazed into his blue eyes so much like my own and touched the downy raven hair on his head. I knew in that moment that there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him, my life belonging to him as I held his little life in my arms. It’s a memory that is one of my favorites, one that I keep close to my heart.

I silently make my way to his crib, the Flash nightlight in the corner of the room casting a reddish glow. I gaze at him as he sleeps; his stuffed bunny clutched securely in his little hand. Watching him grow over the last year has been an adventure that I hadn’t anticipated and one that I wouldn’t trade for anything in this world. 

If I had known life could be this amazing…bring me such unbelievable happiness, I would have whisked Diana away to marry her the moment I had laid eyes on the raven-haired beauty. I had wasted so much time denying my heart…denying myself what we both wanted, but I have her now and I’m never letting her go.

Watching him as he sleeps, I can’t help but notice that Nicholas is the perfect combination of me and Diana, full of such energy and curiosity. His happy disposition never ceases to put a smile on my face, his laughter always warming my heart. I had thought for so long that there would never be happiness in this house ever again, but Diana shined her light and banished the dark shadows that have consumed this manor for far too long. She turned a cold, lifeless manor and turned into an actual home…the one that I remember growing up in before losing my parents.

It still feels like a dream that I fear I’ll someday wake up from to find it all gone, this life that we’ve created together slipping through my fingers. My life is far better than the fantasies that visited me every night in my sleep before I opened my heart to Diana, reminding me every day how blessed I truly am.

How I deserve any of this is beyond anything that I can begin to understand, completely illogical and staggering to the imagination. For some inexplicable reason, I managed to catch the attention and heart of a stunning Amazon, she taking notice of a mere mortal as me, choosing me to share a forever with.

Sometimes, I begin to question everything, question why she would choose someone so damaged and difficult to love like me. She’s basically had to teach me how to show love, to allow feelings that I have suppressed for so long to rise to the surface. She managed to see the man that she knew I could be, the man that I feared was far too broken to survive outside of the thick shell I had walled up around him in order to protect him from anymore pain.

Diana always seems to know when I’m beginning to be sucked into those doubts, my demons rising up out of the abyss to drag me away. She says that I get a certain look on my face that tells her I’m questioning the happiness we’ve found together. That’s when she so patiently takes my hands in hers, kissing me and reassuring me that I’m the one she loves above all else as she single-handedly banishes the pesky ghosts that haunt my psyche.

I am more than determined to make sure that my children don’t end up with the same bitterness and anger residing deep inside of them like I’ve had for so many years. They will have a far different life than I had, the one that remember before losing my whole world.

Leaning down, I gently kiss Nicholas on his forehead, murmuring my love for him as I caress his head. He giggles softly in his sleep, a jabbered “dada” followed by a contented sigh. He clutches his bunny closer to his chest and I can’t help but love him even more than I thought was possible.

I almost missed out on all of this…this miracle...because of my stupid fears and unwillingness to believe I deserved a real chance at love and happiness. Diana’s love and determination showed me how very wrong I was. 

I had tried finding love in others—Selina, Talia, Andrea—only to find pain in the end. I should have known it would take a demigoddess to finally know true love and make me see the light…and her light is unquestionably impossible to ignore.

I leave my sleeping son, silently making my way to my bedroom. The thought of her there in our bed waiting for me already begins to stir my desire for her. Wonder Woman…Princess of the Amazons…Diana.

My partner, my lover, my wife.

Wife.

That word alone causes possessive pride as well as joy to rise up inside of me along with a hunger that only she can fully quench, if only for a moment. She is mine. No one will ever have her; know her touch or her love except for me. I am her first and her last.

I quietly open the door, closing it behind me. I stand there for several moments just staring at the scene that greets me. She’s lying on her side facing the window where shafts of iridescent moonlight spill across her form, illuminating her and creating an ethereal glow about her.

She is truly like an angel fallen from the heavens. When I look at her, I feel like time ceases to exist, my breath catching in my chest as if there’s suddenly not enough oxygen in the room. It lasts for only a moment, but she has a very noticeable effect on me unlike any other woman has ever managed to do.

My hungry gaze roams over her face, drinking in her beauty that seems to be lit from somewhere deep within. What’s even more incredible is that she has an inner beauty that matches the outer appearance that brings men to their knees.

I am most surely counted among them. 

I had long ago prided myself on my ability to control my baser urges and desires, keeping a tight restraint on them and turning a blind eye to the needs that other men struggled with. Ignoring what I wanted had become second nature to me, save for an occasional hook up here and there. 

With Diana, however, I quickly learned that I was wholly unprepared for the things that she stirred deep within me, things that I never thought I was even capable of feeling for someone else. She has taught me so much not only about love, but about myself and the man that I thought I could never be. She makes me want to be the best I can be for her, making her happy and always putting a smile on her beautiful face.

My gaze roams over the serene expression gracing her face, the slender column of her neck, past her generous breasts to the swell of her abdomen where my daughter grows. A daughter...my baby girl. I can hardly believe I’m going to have a daughter with Diana. It both excites and terrifies me to no end.

I barely know how to raise boys let alone a girl. The knowledge that she’s been blessed by Aphrodite does absolutely nothing to ease the anxiety that swims in the pit of my stomach and likely will sit there long after she enters adulthood.

I can no longer stand here staring at her, my fingers itching to grip her hair as I make love to her, to feel every bit of her soft skin pressed against mine. My building desire for her forces my legs to move, my hunger for her coursing through my veins and coalescing low in my groin. 

Coming to stand at the edge of our bed, I shed my t-shirts and shorts, my boxer briefs quickly following. I want nothing against my skin but her. I carefully pull back the covers, slipping beneath the cool satin sheet, my heart beginning to beat a little harder in anticipation as her scent that permeates our bed envelopes me. 

A part of me feels a little guilty about waking her, but I’ve missed her so much that I can no longer go another moment without feeling her, without being completely connected with her in every way possible. It also didn’t hurt that she had sent me a sexy text when I’d left for patrol, basically threatening me if I didn’t satisfy her soon. She has been as insatiable with this pregnancy as she was when she was pregnant with Nicholas and I’m thoroughly savoring every single moment attempting to satisfy her need.

I slide up behind her, my arms slipping around her as I bury my face in her raven hair. I inhale deeply, jasmine and vanilla drifting through me as my hand comes to rest against her belly. I nuzzle her neck, my lips lazily brushing against her skin.

She hums sleepily as she wiggles even further back into my embrace, a smile slowly spreading across her face. I begin to caress her abdomen, anxious to remove her nightgown so I can explore at will. “How’s my baby girl?” I murmur between soft kisses against her shoulder.

“Restless,” she throatily confesses, groaning softly as she presses her bottom against my already hard need.

I join in her groan, the feel of her bottom grinding against me only adding to the escalating sensations inside of me. My fingers leave her belly to skate down her leg. I lightly caress her skin, slowly drawing her satin nightgown up her body as I drag my fingernails along her thigh. 

I’m moving slowly, taking my time despite the overwhelming desire to just take her. I’ve missed her so much lately, missed the touching and fondling, the kisses and the gasps of pleasure that only fans the flames of our passion for one another.

I pause long enough to brush more of her hair out of my way before resuming my trek, my lips planting wet kisses from her throat along her collarbone to her shoulder. My hand is on a journey of its own as I bunch her nightgown around her waist, determined to make her feel the depths of my love for her.

My hand begins to stroke her belly again, pausing long enough to feel my daughter kick beneath the palm of my hand. It puts a smile on my face as I dip my head and kiss the juncture where neck and shoulder met. I lightly add teeth and tongue to the kiss, pausing to suck hard and causing her to body to bow against me in response.

“More…please, Bruce,” she breathlessly pleads.

I curl more of myself around her, slowly grinding my hips against her backside. She gasps sharply with the contact, her breathing growing labored as I continue to explore her soft, warm skin. She reaches behind her to thread her fingers through my hair, keeping my mouth where she wants it.

Her other hand is clutching her pillow in a vice-like grip as my fingers brush circles along her inner thigh, avoiding the one spot she wants me to touch her most. I lean over her a little more as I kiss her collarbone, looking down at her heaving breasts and feeling myself grow even harder with the erotic view I find. There isn’t one place where I’m not completely pressed up against her back.

I pause long enough to pull her nightgown over her head, wanting nothing between us, needing to see her in all her wondrous glory as I make love to her. We quickly settle back into the same position, my hand gripping her leg and bending her knee. I lift it to prop it over my thigh, opening her up to me.

I brush my nose against her shoulder, my lips following as my fingers finally begin to stroke her where she wants me most. She is so very wet and it causes me to groan with barely restrained desire to devour her thoroughly. My other hand slips beneath and around her to tease her breast as she pants her pleasure.

“Bruce…Bruce…”

My name becomes a breathless mantra that only makes me almost painfully aroused. There is nothing better in this whole world than the sound of my name on her lips when we make love, turning me on and almost making me delirious with happiness that she is truly mine to love.

She starts to move her hips, trying to get me to increase my rhythm. She’s teetering on the edge, her pleasure building and demanding the release that I’m denying her. I remove my fingers, earning a growl of frustration and I know if I don’t take her all the way soon I will be in a serious state of hurt by a very pregnant Amazon.

I chuckle softly against her skin that has a thin sheen of sweat. “Patience, Princess,” I whisper against her earlobe, pausing to rake my teeth over it.

She roughly grinds her backside against my erection and I can’t help but gasp in response, my head tilting back with the intense rush of pleasure that spikes through me. I can’t deny either of us what we want any longer as I guide myself to her entrance. My heart is pounding with just the feel of her and I haven’t even fully entered her yet.

One sharp thrust has us both crying out with the sensations that flood us. She’s so very tight and it’s all I can do not to come right there. I force myself to begin to slowly move my hips, thrusting in and out, in and out, pausing to at times to grind myself against her. 

She’s panting heavily now, sweat trickling down my chest and her back. Being with her is like coming home, my own personal paradise, and I know there is no other place I’d rather be than here with her for the rest of my life.

My hand moves to settle on her hip as I begin to move a little faster, a little harder. I stroke my fingers along her hipbone, around the swell where our baby grows before moving back to down to her center in order to tease her pleasure even higher.

She begins to writhe against me, whimpers and cries intermingled with gasps and pleas for more. It’s becoming difficult to decipher which sounds are coming from her and which ones are mine. We’re so connected, joined so fully that we move as one, expressing our love for one another the best way we know how.

Nothing I have ever shared with another woman could come even remotely close to the sheer ecstasy and intimacy I experience with my princess. We’re linked on a whole other level that I never knew existed, one that I reach only with her.

This love that I feel for her…that I’m expressing to her now is all-consuming, permeating every fiber of my being. I can hardly catch my breath as I give her all that I am, my fingers moving to her hip and digging deep into her flesh as I hold onto her for dear life.

I plant kisses along her shoulder, love punctuated with gasping breaths. She twists her hips slightly as I slam into her, causing my eyes to roll back in my head as her walls clamp down on me. I can’t suppress the cry that is ripped from my throat as I come deep inside of her, as she milks me for everything that I have.

Another pillow is sacrificed in the midst of her release, feathers exploding and floating down around us. It causes a breathless chuckle to rise up in my throat as I struggle to catch my next breath, a gasped “Sweet Aphrodite” by my wife letting me know I have satisfied her…at least for the moment.

She uses her inner muscles to hold tightly to my softening member, refusing to let me go just yet as she lowers her leg from my hip. The erotic sensation causes my hips to involuntarily jerk and I can feel myself already growing desperate for more of her.

I softly kiss along her throat, my tongue sneaking out to taste her skin. My hand caresses her belly, my daughter kicking hard and showing us her displeasure with waking her up. It causes us both to chuckle in response, Diana’s hand moving to cover mine that is splayed across our baby.

“She might not be pleased with you waking her up, but I’m very pleased with you,” Diana teases with a sultry tone of supreme pleasure and approval.

My laughter is partially muffled by her skin as I press my face against her shoulder. Our bodies shake as one, our amusement mingling with the euphoric afterglow that consumes us. “We still need to decide on a name,” I remind her.

“I’ve decided on a name,” she reminds me as she snuggles even further against me. “You just won’t accept that it’s going to be her name.”

“Isn’t Alexandrea a big name for a little girl to carry?” I ask, relishing this moment alone with my wife and daughter.

“I told you we can call her Alex for short,” Diana tells me.

“Alex Wayne,” I say out loud, trying it out. “It sounds like a boy.”

“What about calling her Lexie?” she asks and I immediately feel her shudder against me. “Never mind. We are not calling her Lexie.”

“Right,” I definitely agree with a shudder of my own. “Too close to Lex Luthor.”

She groans her agreement, her fingers interlacing with mine on her belly. “Forget I even suggested it.”

“How about we use Alexandrea as her middle name?” I suggest.

“I’ll agree to that,” she finally decides after a few moments of silence. “We still need a first name, though.”

“We still have three months to decide,” I point out.

I sigh contentedly, the desire for sleep warring with the longing for her that still swims through my veins. She seems to read my mind, allowing me to slip free from her body. We both groan from the loss of contact as she rolls over to face me.

Before I can draw a breath, her lips are on mine, kissing me with the passion that we had just shared, but she hadn’t been able to communicate until now. She pushes me onto my back as she lays against my side, kissing me senseless.

She breaks the kiss long enough to move over me, straddling my thighs and taking me almost reverentially into her hand. She slowly begins caressing me, her blue eyes dark with lust staring down at me with an intensity that sends a shiver racing up my spine. It only takes a few strokes before she has me panting and arching my back, bucking my hips in desperation to be deep inside of her again.

Her belly keeps her from leaning over and kissing me like she usually does when we make love like this. Guiding me inside of her, she settles for lacing her fingers with mine as she begins to rock her hips, raising and lowering herself over me.

I watch her as she moves over me, refusing the overwhelming urge to close my eyes and succumb to the rhythmic intimacy that sears through me. I don’t want to miss a single moment of this with her, needing to see every flicker of emotion that passes over her face and knowing that I’m the one that is bringing her that intense pleasure.

I can’t help but reflect over my life with this beautiful Amazon who has been blessed by the gods, someone so amazing, so full of compassion and love. She could’ve have had her choice of any man on the face of the earth and galaxies far away, but instead, she chose to bestow her love on me…a mortal man with so little to give when it comes to the heart.

But she managed to reach deep inside of me and awaken things I long believed dead, impossible for me to experience or feel for another. She touched me, heart and soul, and for that I am forever changed and eternally grateful.

In this moment as we make love all over again, I silently swear on my life to do everything in my power to make sure she feels every ounce of love that I truly feel for her, to be the man that she deserves…the man she always somehow knew that I could be.


	10. Welcome Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bruce comes home from patrol to find his wife anxiously waiting with plans specifically for him.

Welcome Home

Pulling onto the platform in the cave, Batman turned the engine of the Batmobile off before sitting back in his seat. He released a somewhat weary sigh as he sat there for a moment contemplating how patrol had gone tonight. It hadn’t been necessarily exhausting in any sense of the word, nothing major requiring a lot of effort, but he still felt somewhat drained.

He knew it wasn’t because Tim was gone with his friends on a camping trip for a long weekend off. He’d been patrolling Gotham alone for years long before he’d adopted Dick who would later become the first of three Robins. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose. It wasn’t even that he was physically injured or experiencing any muscle fatigue per se. No, it felt somewhat deeper than that, something more cerebral. He was mentally tired. The last couple of weeks had been hectic to say the least, his time at home practically nonexistent. Between League business and Wayne business on top of Gotham, he was finding he was in need of some sort of a break…a chance to be selfish and only think of himself and what he wanted most. 

He frowned to himself. He’d never felt that he’d needed a break quite like this before, but things were different now. He had a family that he missed greatly, catching only a few minutes here and there the last couple of weeks and he hated it. It had left him feeling more than a little weary.

His family energized him, reminded him why he did this every night. Not seeing Nicholas and Kaia or getting to spend some much needed alone time with his beautiful wife was proving to be a stressful dilemma that was in dire need of being rectified.

Exiting the Batmobile, Bruce pulled his cowl off, allowing to rest against his back as he headed towards the platform where his computer awaited his nightly reports. He tugged his gauntlets off as he slowly ascended the steps, wanting nothing more than to skip it tonight and just head upstairs to his wife waiting in their bed if he was lucky. He just hoped that she hadn’t been called away on a League mission.

Unfortunately, he knew that Diana was going to have to wait once again tonight. Killer Croc had escaped from Arkham a couple of weeks ago and had yet to be found. It was only a matter of time before the reptilian’s bloody path of carnage began to reappear, making him shudder just thinking about it.

He had searched the sewers for hours again tonight and had come up empty. Sniffing his uniform he smelled just like the dark tunnels that he’d waded through. He needed to burn his uniform and get a hot shower, but he wanted to get his reports typed up while they were still fresh in his mind.

Plopping down in his chair, Bruce’s gaze settled on a folded piece of paper resting on his keyboard with his name written on it. The corner of his mouth ticked up as he recognized that elegant handwriting anywhere. He quickly picked it up, bringing it to his nose to inhale her heavenly sent before reading it.

 

_B,  
Meet me outside in the hot tub when you’re done.   
I’ll be waiting.  
D_

 

In that single moment, Bruce immediately decided that any reports that needed to be typed up tonight could definitely wait until tomorrow. Getting to his feet with a renewed sense of energy and excitement, he swiftly descended the steps of his platform, making a beeline for the showers.

Stripping out of his ruined uniform, he headed straight for the shower, allowing the hot water and soap to wash away the stresses of the night. He couldn’t wait to see what Diana was up to, but he had a very good idea and he could hardly wait. It felt like an eternity since he’d last been able to touch her, to hold her or feel her soft skin against his, to be fully sheathed deep inside of her. When he made love with her, it was like coming home.

Finishing with his shower, Bruce slipped into a pair of swim trunks before heading upstairs to his waiting wife. Entering the manor, he found his home to be dimly lit and all too quiet, devoid of any activity which seldom happened in this household. There was almost always something going on somewhere in this house by someone.

He hoped it would stay that way as he made his way to the sliding glass doors off the kitchen that would lead him outside to his waiting princess. A soft glow from an overhead light in the kitchen was his only form of illumination as he slide the door open.

He knew Nicholas and Kaia were fast asleep by now…or should be, Tim away for a well-deserved long weekend. That left the British wild card—Alfred. Hopefully with any luck, the British butler was gone as well, allowing him some alone time with Diana. Stolen kisses and fleeting glances can only hold a man for so long.

Bruce silently stepped out into the night to find the landscape lighting on low, creating a romantic glow. “It’s about time.”

The enticing sound of her melodious voice sent a shiver of excitement trilling through him, his head turning towards the hot tub sitting on the far edge of the patio. He nearly swallowed his tongue as he approached, discovering that she was not wearing a bathing suit in the hot tub. Her bronzed skin practically shimmered in the moonlight, the beads of water and perspiration on her body drawing him in like a siren’s song.

“I think you’re a little overdressed,” she observed with a seductive smile. She brought her glass of wine to her lips, her hungry gaze slowly roaming over him as she took a drink. “I think you need to rectify that.”

Bruce smirked as he began untying his trunks, noticing the way her sapphire eyes raked over his body as he slowly removed his swim attire. “Better?” he smugly asked, allowing her to drink in her fill of him as well as his obvious desire for her before closing the distance between them.

“Much,” she throatily agreed, her gaze locked on what she wanted most as she slowly drew her teeth over her bottom lip.

“I take it Alfred isn’t here?” he asked as he climbed into the hot water with her.

“Gone for the weekend,” she revealed as she turned to pour him a glass of wine. She handed it to him with a grin as she moved to sit closer to him. “I thought he could use a couple of days away so he and Leslie went away for the weekend.”

“So we basically have the whole house to ourselves all weekend?” he questioned her before taking a sip of his wine.

“You could say that,” she agreed, handing him a chocolate covered strawberry. “Oh, and did I forget to mention that Clark and Lois are keeping Nicholas and Kaia until tomorrow evening?”

While the thought that his children weren’t home caused a momentary pang of loneliness to erupt in his heart, the thought of having his wife all to himself for most of Saturday made him the happiest man on the face of the Earth. Setting his wine glass aside, he reached for her, pulling her closer as his gaze dipped to her lips.

“I think you may have forgotten to mention that fact, Princess,” he huskily replied as he parted his knees to allow her to settle between his thighs, his hands moving to her hips as she moved to fully face him.

“We’re meeting them in Metropolis at six o’clock this evening for dinner at Manresa’s,” she informed him as she leaned in to brush her lips against his, her hands resting on his shoulders.

Bruce’s breath hitched in his throat as her lips lightly grazed his, teasing him with what he wanted most. He pressed his thighs against her sides to keep her right where he wanted her. “You thought of everything…haven’t you, Mrs. Wayne?”

“Of course,” she murmured, nipping at his bottom lip. “I decided you needed a break and I needed my husband. By the way, the League is only to contact us if there’s a cataclysmic event that threatens the safety of the world.”

“So, I get you all to myself for the next…fourteen hours straight without any interruptions?”

She tilted her head, her lips softly kissing along his chiseled jaw to his ear. “No, I get you all to myself to do with as I please…and I do have quite a few plans for you, husband.”

Her tongue snuck out to lightly trace the shell of his ear before repeatedly raking her teeth over his earlobe. She paused to suck on it greedily, his head falling back as his fingers dug into his hips. He had missed her…missed this so much over the last two weeks and now he had hours with her at his fingertips. He swore he was not going to allow her out of their bed for any reason today once he got her up there. It almost seemed like a dream that was too good to be true.

She languidly blazed a tortuous path down his neck to his collarbone, teeth and tongue and lips combining to rapidly drive him wild. He moaned her name as she explored his chest all over again, feasting on the sculpted muscles she found there as well as the various scars he’d accumulated over the years in his battle to save his city. She’d always believed that he had to have been fashioned by the gods themselves. No mortal man could ever look this deliciously perfect without a little divine intervention.

His fingers tunneled through her hair as he relished her unhurried ministrations, his fingertips massaging her scalp. The water was rapidly becoming hotter, but it had nothing to do with the heating unit in the hot tub and everything to do with the beautiful goddess that was his wife showing him how much she loved him.

Her tongue repeatedly swirled around his nipple, flicking over it before moving on to the other one. He tightened his grip on her hair as her hand slid down to caress his abdominal muscles before finally reaching her intended destination. He gasped sharply as she leisurely stroked him from base to tip beneath the water, causing his heart to hammer wildly in response.

He abruptly pulled her face up to his, his breathing ragged as his hungry gaze roamed over her exquisite face. He took his time appreciating her all over again—eyes bluer than the oceans filled with such passion meant only for him, high cheekbones, her regal nose, proud chin and perfect red lips…and that hair. He loved her long, raven mass of curls.

Diana was everything that he had wanted in a woman and so much more that went far beyond just the physical. Her inner beauty shined brighter and warmer than the sun itself, drawing him in and making him feel complete. It was a miracle that she had chosen to love him in return, a princess taking notice of a lowly knight.

His heated gaze finally settled on her mouth for a heart beat longer, his nose brushing against her as his mouth sought out hers. He kissed her with a frantic need that demanded to be sated, desire for his wife pent up for far too long. He released her hair as his hands moved to wrap around her body, pulling her unbelievably closer. The feel of her breasts smashed against his chest only made him that much more desperate to be inside of her, his tongue already showing her what he wanted with her.

As if sensing his thoughts, Diana shifted her position without breaking the heated kiss, moving to straddle his lap as her knees came to rest on the seat of the hot tub, but not yet quite ready to give him what he wanted. A throaty growl issued from his throat as he broke the kiss, his lips trailing along her jaw to her ear as his hand moved to caress her breast.

“I have to have you…now, Princess,” he breathlessly rasped, his fingers digging into her hips with all the pent-up sexual frustration teeming inside of him.

Diana hissed as he sucked on her neck, her head falling to the side. “You haven’t even eaten much yet,” she murmured.

“I have what I’ve been hungry for right here,” he wickedly retorted as his hands moved to squeeze her backside.

A throaty laugh was his reward, followed by a strangled cry as his hand slipped between them to stroke her. Her hips bucked against his hand, unable to take it much longer. She pulled his hand away, taking hold of him and guiding him inside of her. All the air was sucked from his lungs with the feel of her swallowing him whole. She was so hot and tight it nearly sent him over the edge right there. 

It also didn’t hurt they were making love outside in the hot tub, knowing that technically anyone could show up at any time despite Diana’s attempts to give them some time alone together. Any well laid plans within the Wayne household never went the way it was actually supposed to.

It only added to his already simmering lust and excitement that was near ready to boil over. He rested his forehead against her shoulder as he struggled to catch his breath, savoring the amazing feeling of being one with her again despite the overwhelming demand of his body to move his hips. 

“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, feathering kisses along his cheekbone as her hands cradled his chiseled jaw.

“I’ve missed you too, Princess,” he murmured as he lifted his hips.

She gasped as he inched a little deeper inside of her, her mouth falling open with a sharp inhale as she tilted her head back. She began raising her hips, becoming a little more aggressive with every downward movement. Her hands settled on his shoulders, her fingernails pressing into his skin with how amazing he felt inside of her. 

He hissed in response, loving the physical aspect of their love making. Sometimes making love with her was slow and exploring…tender with a love felt so bone-deep it was almost overwhelming in the way it evoked such intense emotions in him. Other times, like now, the sex was fiery and passionate…the physicality of it primal and exhausting in an unbelievably amazing way.

While he loved every time they came together, this was probably his favorite because it was Diana showing her true fiery self to him, what beat in her heart for him. He never had to hold back with her or be afraid of hurting her, showing her even his darkest parts without fear of chasing her away. 

And he proudly bore the marks of her fierce love for him just as she bore his. He knew that the bruising love mark that he’d just left on her throat would disappear in a few hours, but it fueled his ego just the same while it was there.

Pulling his hands off her hips, Diana laced her fingers with his before pressing them to the edge of the hot tub, leaving him completely at her mercy. She kissed him hard as she rose up on her knees until only the tip of his member was still inside of her before slamming her hips back down again.

Their lips tore apart with a powerful gasp; both sucking in much needed air as she rode him with all the built-up desire that had been inside of her. Her orgasm hit her hard as it seized her body, causing her to cry out his name before collapsing limply against him.

Bruce’s release came hot and hard, his whole body tensing and bowing with its intensity. He gritted his teeth as he struggled to keep from blacking out. The force his release sent Diana spiraling into a second, toe-curling orgasm with the feel of his hot seed filling her so very full.

He held her close against his body as they both struggled to recover from their climactic union, his hands splayed across her back. She reached behind him and grabbed a chocolate covered strawberry from the plate, taking a bite before kissing him deeply. The sweet combination of strawberry, chocolate, and Diana was the most intoxicating taste, making him lightheaded with a craving for more.

Breaking the kiss, he slowly dragged his tongue across his lower lip, savoring the taste. “If I had known this was waiting for me, I would have cut patrol short.”

“I wanted to surprise you,” she purred as she slowly kissed along his jaw, savoring the afterglow of her release.

“I love my surprise,” he agreed, his hands roaming over her back and hips as his lips trailed along her collarbone.

Diana wiggled her hips, feeling him still semi-hard inside of her. “Well, there is more to the surprise,” she seductively replied. “We can either continue this here or we can continue upstairs in our bedroom…where my lasso is waiting for us.”

Bruce groaned as his head fell back with just the thought of how the next few hours were going to go. “I love you, Princess.”

A smile graced her lips as she lovingly caressed his cheek, gazing deeply into his azure eyes. “I love you too,” she sincerely said. “Welcome home, Bruce.”


	11. Trick...or Treat?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bruce and Diana take Nicholas and Kaia trick-or-treating.

Trick…or Treat?

“You know I’m only doing this for the children,” he grumbled as he buried his nose in his newspaper.

“That and because I asked you so nicely,” Diana claimed as she fed Kaia her breakfast.

“Diana, we’d just had sex,” Bruce reminded her. “You know I’m completely defenseless against you at that point. The willpower to tell you no is absolutely nonexistent. I’ll give you anything you ask for.”

Diana chuckled as she glanced at Nicholas, thankful that he was too absorbed in his oatmeal to pay any attention to their conversation. “It’s not my fault I found your Achilles’ heel,” she innocently maintained.

“Postcoital bliss is not an Achilles’ heel,” he stated, peeking at her over the top of his newspaper. “It’s just when men are most susceptible for a sneak attack by their devious wives.”

Diana chuckled as she paused to wipe the baby food from Kaia’s mouth. “You’re talking as if we’re waging some sort of war against each other,” she replied, offering more blueberries to her daughter.

“It might as well be,” he decided, reaching for his cup of coffee. “I used to think you were so innocent and naïve, but I’ve learned since marrying you that it’s all an act. You’re actually very cunning and duplicitous.”

“Oh, Hera,” Diana muttered as she handed Kaia her sippy cup. “You are so paranoid, Bruce.”

“Just stating the facts, Princess,” he absentmindedly responded as he perused the business section, more than pleased to see that Wayne Enterprises’ stocks had climbed considerably once again.

“I was going to let you pick out the costume you’ll wear, but now I think I’ll pick it out for you instead,” she told him.

His newspaper instantly came down with a crumpling sound that caught Nicholas’s attention. “What kind of costume did you have in mind?” he demanded to know, his gaze narrowing suspiciously.

A mischeivious smirk formed on her red lips as she set Kaia’s bowl and spoon aside in order to remove her daughter’s bib. “I guess that’s for me to know and you to find out, isn’t it?”

“Diana,” he growled her name in a threatening tone as he leveled her with the deadliest Batglare he could muster.

“Oh, please, Bruce,” she said with a roll of her eyes as she freed Kaia from her highchair. “That never worked before we were married. It definitely won’t work now.”

He growled a curse under his breath, his gaze falling on his son who intently listening. He quickly plastered a smile on his face to hide his agitation. Nicholas giggled as he fisted his oatmeal in his hand. “Daddy funny when he mad,” Nicholas said.

“Thanks for taking daddy’s side, Nick,” Bruce muttered with a frown.

Diana stood to her feet with Kaia in her arms, pausing to lean over and kiss Bruce on the temple. “You promised and, besides, it’s for the children,” she reminded him.

Bruce sighed in defeat, silently plotting a way to get revenge on his wife. “Fine, but just be kind with my costume,” he told her. “Remember—I have my ways of getting revenge, Princess. It definitely won’t be pretty.”

Diana studied him a moment as Kaia chewed on her teething ring. “How about you pick out my costume and I’ll pick out yours?” she suggested. “Will that make you a little happier about going?”

Bruce’s expression seemed to brighten slightly, the wheels in his brain obviously spinning at a rapid rate as he thought through countless possibilities of costumes that he’d love to see his wife in. “That’s a deal,” he readily agreed with a growing smirk.

“Good,” she said, relieved they’d found common ground that seemed to pacify him. “I’ve got to run or I’ll be late for monitor duty.”

Bruce took Kaia from her arms, allowing Diana to clean Nicholas up so she could leave for the Watchtower. “Come here, little princess,” he told his daughter, kissing her on the cheek before settling her into his lap so he could finish his own breakfast.

Kaia held up her teething ring to her father, grinning at him as she babbled and drooled. He picked up his napkin, wiping the slobber from her chin. “I’ll be happy when all her teeth finally come in,” he muttered with a frown.

“It’ll be a while yet,” Diana informed him. “These are just her incisors coming in. We still have the molars to get through.”

“Great,” Bruce murmured, turning his attention to Nicholas.”So who do you want to dress up like for Halloween?”

“Baman,” Nicholas readily decided as Diana finished cleaning the oatmeal from his hands.

“He couldn’t decide between Superman and Batman, but he finally decided he wanted to be like his dad,” Diana told him.

“Good choice, Nicholas,” Bruce told him with a proud smile. “Batman is always cooler than Superman. Never forget that.”

“Bruce,” Diana chided him. “You’re going to turn him against Kal.”

“No, I’m not,” Bruce argued. “I’m just teaching him which Justice League member is best.”

“It’s Wonder Woman, Nicholas,” Diana told him as she set him down on the floor. “Batman and Superman just wish they could be like me.”

Bruce couldn’t help but chuckle with her response. “You are most definitely the best of all us, Princess,” he agreed as he stood to his feet, putting Kaia in her baby carrier.

Diana’s arms slipped around her husband’s waist, her lips lingering a breath away from his. “And don’t you ever forget it…‘Baman’,” she teased before kissing him soundly.

He pulled her fully against him, savoring the taste of his wife on his tongue. “You’re making it difficult to go to work today,” he huskily said, tracing her bottom lip with his tongue before sucking on it.

She moaned softly, reluctantly pulling out of his hold and ending the kiss. “Fine,” she uttered with a sigh. “Just promise me you won’t get me a costume that’s too risqué,” she warned him. “We’ll be going to the Gotham Children’s Hospital after all.”

“More risqué than your uniform?” he questioned her with an arching eyebrow.

“Never mind,” she replied with a shake of her head. “Come on, kids. Time for us to go to work.”

XXX

“Bruce!” Diana cried from the bathroom. “I can’t believe you picked this costume out for me to wear!”

“You?” Bruce nearly growled in response. “You are in so much trouble for this outfit you got for me.”

“Oh, please,” Diana grumbled. “At least you’re mostly covered.”

“No, I’m not!” he exclaimed in annoyance. “I’m wearing a skirt! Batman does not wear a skirt!”

“You’re not Batman this evening, Bruce,” she reminded him. “You’re a gladiator.”

“I’m so going to get revenge for this, Princess,” he darkly threatened, plans for retribution already beginning to take shape in his mind.

“I believe you have no room to talk, Bruce,” she yelled. “I’m pretty sure this is not how cowgirls dress.”

A broad grin stretched across his face as he studied his appearance in the full-length mirror, turning from one side to the other to get a good look at himself. “It is in my fantasy,” he told her. “I would’ve loved to see you wear it when we chased Chronos to the Wild West.”

“Yes, because this wouldn’t have drawn any attention to us,” Diana groused as she entered the bedroom.

Bruce nearly swallowed his tongue as he turned to see his wife standing there in the cowgirl costume he had picked out for her to wear tonight. She had on a white cropped halter top that tied in the front and left her torso uncovered. A short brown leather vest partially covered her top, matching her fitted leather pants that widened below the knee. 

She wore matching high-heeled cowboy boots; her holsters and guns slung low on her hips. Her raven hair was pulled back into a long braid, a red bandana tied around her neck to complete her look…well almost completed her look.

“Where’s your hat?” he asked with a frown.

“It’s here,” she replied, turning around to show it resting against her back. It also gave him a fantastic view of her derrière and the way the leather pants hung very low on her hips. It made his mouth water with heated desire.

A low growl issued from his throat as he studied her amazing figure. “You look perfect,” he nearly growled.

“I cannot wear this to the Children’s Hospital,” she firmly stated, her hands coming to rest on her hips as she turned to face him.

“Yes, you can and you will,” he maintained, walking over to the bed to retrieve a second box for her. “You can wear this with it.”

Diana took the box with great skepticism written on her face. “What is this?”

“What you are wearing now is for me later tonight,” he explained. “What is in this box is to get you through the Children’s Hospital without being arrested for indecent exposure.”

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Diana opened the box to find a full length leather duster jacket. “You always think of everything, don’t you?”

“Always,” he replied with a smirk. “Now, let’s talk about this costume you picked out for me.”

“What’s wrong with it?” she asked with a darkening gleam in her blue eyes. “I think you look very sexy.”

“I’m wearing a dress, Princess,” he ground out.

Diana stood to her feet, making her way to him. “No, it’s the attire of a warrior,” she seductively said, her hands running from his shoulders over his muscles and down the length of his bare arms.

He readily decided he could survive a couple of hours wearing this costume especially with how hot it was making his wife. He was beginning to wonder if he was going to be able to escape their bedroom with his costume intact tonight with the predatory sparkle that reflected in her eyes.

She ran her fingers over his breastplate, wishing now that she had gotten him the costume that left his chest bare, but she knew she couldn’t with the scars that marred his torso. She slowly raked her teeth over her bottom lip before leaning in and gifting him with a kiss which he readily returned.

Their kisses grew more heated by the second, the need for air forcing them apart. “I think we should just stay in tonight,” Bruce suggested between nipping kisses along her throat to her ear.

“We can’t…we…” Diana began only to gasp sharply, finding it difficult to finish her sentence or her thought with the way that Bruce was assaulting her earlobe. “The kids…we can’t disappoint…them.”

Bruce paused to rake his teeth over the sensitive spot behind her ear, his breath hot and urgent against her skin. “They can wait a couple of hours,” he huskily maintained. “I can’t.”

Diana shivered with his response, the feel of his hands gripping her hips and pulling her firmly against his pelvis driving her crazy. Unfortunately, a knock at the door forced them apart. “Yes?” Diana answered the intrusion.

“The children are already,” Alfred called through the door.

“So are we,” she informed him. “We’ll be right down.”

Bruce reluctantly released his wife, the desire storming in his eyes unmistakable. “You realize the longer you make me wait, the more insatiable I’ll be when we get home.”

“I’m counting on it,” she replied, kissing him before turning and grabbing her duster jacket.

He released a low breath, doing his best to temper the hunger for her that she’d awakened in him. He was going to make sure he had her completely at his mercy for a couple of hours before heading out on patrol tonight.

Heading downstairs, Bruce and Diana found Nicholas running back and forth down the hallway, trying to make his Batman cape fly out behind him. “Nicholas, you look just like daddy,” Diana told him.

“Me can’t fly,” he said with a scowl.

“Mommy can fly, but Batman can’t fly,” Diana reminded him. “He swings from rooftops by a rope.”

“It’s not a rope,” Bruce promptly corrected her with a scowl. “It’s a grappling line.”

“And here is Miss Kaia,” Alfred announced, holding his granddaughter in his arms.

“Kaia, you look so cute,” Diana cooed as she reached for her daughter who was dressed like a pink Batgirl costume. Kaia babbled past the pacifier in her mouth, her hand coming to rest against her mother’s cheek as she tried to tell her something important.

Bruce scooped Nicholas up into his arms as he headed towards the front door, knowing they needed to leave soon. “Is Tim coming with us?”

“No, he went to see Miss Stephanie for the evening,” Alfred replied.

“All right,” Bruce decided. “Let’s get going.”

“I’ll bring the car around to the front,” Alfred told them as he grabbed his coat and cap.

“Did your parents do this when you were a child?” Diana asked as they put the children into their car seats.

“Yes, every year since I was Kaia’s age,” he softly confessed. “This is the first time I’ve gone on Halloween since they died.” 

“I’m so glad that it’s a tradition we can begin again with our children,” Diana told him, her hand coming to rest on his forearm as she settled in beside him in the back of the limo. “I think your parents would be very proud.”

“I think so too,” he agreed. Bruce looked across the limo to his children in their car seats. It stirred so many emotions and memories in him, ones that he had never been able to completely bury. “One year, my father dressed up like a pirate. He went all out—wig, boots, sword, hat…he wore it all. The kids absolutely loved it. My mother dressed up like Cleopatra. She looked so beautiful.”

“What did you dress up like?”

“Gray Ghost,” he thoughtfully replied as his eyes fell on Nicholas in his Batman costume. “He was my hero growing up.”

“I’m sure I can dig up some old photos of you in your Gray Ghost costume, Master Bruce,” Alfred volunteered from the driver’s seat.

“That’s quite all right, Alfred,” Bruce readily decided. “We really don’t need to do that.”

“I’d love to see them,” Diana replied with a grin. “I bet you were so cute.”

“He looked just like Master Nicholas when he was his age,” Alfred commented.

Bruce studied his son, noticing a lot of Wayne in his features, but he still saw so much of Diana in him. “He may look like me, but he’s a lot like his mother.”

“Sweet, innocent, charming, loving…” Diana began to list off.

“Mischievous, cunning, sneaky, manipulative especially when I’m defenseless…” Bruce quickly added.

“I am nothing like that,” Diana maintained with a haughty air as she turned a dark glare on her husband.

“Do I need to remind you of our conversation yesterday morning at the breakfast table?” he softly asked her.

“I simply asked you a question,” she claimed. “It wasn’t my fault you are incapable of saying no.”

“It’s not that I’m incapable, Princess. It’s the fact that you had me at a serious disadvantage,” he retorted. “You could have waited until later, but no. You had to ask at that precise moment when you knew I could deny you nothing.”

“I was in the same state as you were,” she ground out in annoyance.

“But I didn’t have my hand on your—”

“Bruce!” she hissed. “There are little ears present.” 

Bruce looked up to see Nicholas and Kaia staring at them, giggling at the way their parents were arguing. Bruce smiled at his children, knowing they needed to change the subject. Even though he knew they were far too young to understand what they were saying, Diana always worried that talking about their sex life in front of them was going to adversely affect them.

“We’re here,” Alfred announced much to Diana’s relief.

“That didn’t take long to get to the Children’s Hospital,” Bruce commented as he reached forward to unbuckle Nicholas.

“Well, with the direction your conversation was headed, I felt it was important to get to our destination as quickly as possible,” Alfred replied.

“Thank you, Alfred,” Diana said as she exited the limo with Kaia in her arms.

“My pleasure, Miss Diana,” he said with a knowing smile. “I’ll get the bags from the trunk and meet you inside.”

The second that Bruce set his son down on the ground he was off and running, forcing his father to chase after him. “Nicholas, you can’t run around here,” he told him as he scooped him up into his arms. “This is a hospital with a lot of very sick kids. We need to be on our best behavior.”

“But I not sick,” Nicholas countered with a confused look on his face.

“No, you’re not sick, but the kids here are,” Bruce attempted to explain. “We’re going to bring them candy and toys to cheer them up.”

“But I Baman,” Nicholas insisted.

“Yes, you are,” Bruce agreed as they followed Diana inside the hospital. “We’re going to try to help the kids feel better tonight.”

Nicholas thought for moment, trying to understand, but ultimately gave up as his father set him down on the ground again. Bruce took hold of his young son’s hand to make sure that he didn’t try to run off again, Alfred following behind with several large bags.

“Hi, Laura,” Diana greeted the charge nurse as she approached them.

Laura smiled broadly at the famous family, thankful they had come to donate their time. “Diana,” she replied. “I’m so glad you all could come. You all look great. The kids are going to love your costumes. Bruce, love the gladiator look.”

“Thanks, Laura,” Bruce said, ignoring Diana’s grin. “My wife picked it out.”

“Well, it looks fantastic,” she decided. “I’m so happy you decided to carry on your parents’ work. It was something that the children always looked forward to.”

Laura had just started working at the Children’s Hospital right out of nursing school when Bruce was three years old. After his parents’ death, Laura had reached out to him in hopes that he would carry on the tradition, but he had turned her down. She’d understood, but had kept in touch with him over the years.

Now that he had his own family, he found it easier to take up the tradition again.

He looked down when he felt Diana taking his hand in hers, lacing their fingers. She knew that this wasn’t easy for him. The fact that he had opened up to her about it in the limo had spoken volumes about how far he’d come since they had first gotten together.

He never would’ve shared anything like that when they had first started secretly seeing each other. She knew that a lot of it had to do with Nicholas and Kaia. While some of it had to do with her, their children had been able to help ease a measure of the ache that lived inside of him, helping to create memories and recreate old ones seemed to lessen the pain.

Bruce caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, silently thanking her for her support as they made their way to the game room that had been built and named after his parents. There were at least three dozen children with their parents there waiting for them, all breaking into cheers at the site of Wonder Woman dressed as a cowgirl.

Nicholas and Kaia cheered as well, neither of them having any idea why but enjoying the excitement nonetheless. Alfred set the bags down, allowing Nicholas to get a handful of candy out of one. Bruce watched with pride as Alfred took Nicholas by the hand and helped guide him around to each of the children, dropping pieces of candy into their bags.

With another bag, Diana took Kaia to the other side of the room, pausing to speak to each child and their family. It took a little urging to get Kaia to give up the candy in her small fist. The scowl on her little face revealed her unhappiness with the whole idea, but his daughter soon got the hang of it and seemed to actually be enjoying it.

“You have a beautiful family, Bruce,” Laura told him as she stood beside him. “Your parents would be very proud of you and the family you have created.”

“Thank you, Laura,” Bruce softly said. “I never thought that I would have something like this. Sometimes I worry that it’s all nothing more than a dream.”

“You deserve it more than anyone I know,” she reassured him.

Bruce couldn’t suppress that chuckle that bubbled up inside of him as Kaia attempted to eat one of the pieces of candy with the wrapper still on it. The look of annoyance on her face was pure Diana through and through, her fingers all wet as she pulled the wrapped candy from her mouth.

He had never dreamed that he could ever be this happy after he had lost his parents, but Diana had more than proven him wrong. She had made a long-ago buried and forgotten dream come to life in the most amazing way. It made him love her even more for it; far more than he had ever dreamed was possible.

XXX

Bruce silently closed Nicholas’s bedroom door behind him just as Diana exited Kaia’s room. “Fast asleep,” he told her.

“Same here,” she said with a grin. “I didn’t think she’d fall asleep so fast with all the excitement tonight.”

“I know,” he agreed. “I think Nicholas ended up eating more candy than he actually handed out.”

“Hopefully, they’ll both sleep through the night,” she told him as they entered their bedroom.

Bruce closed the door behind him as a predatory gleam reflected in his gaze that was solely focused on his wife. She had removed her hat, duster jacket, and guns. Now, the rest of her costume was for him to remove. He found he could hardly wait to get his hands and mouth on her.

Diana turned around with a sigh to find her husband leaning against their closed bedroom door, the hungry glint in his eyes revealing his lustful thoughts at that moment. It caused a shiver to race up her spine, knowing she was going to be on the receiving end of that heated desire that had been steadily building up in him all evening.

“See something you like?” she flirted, a single eyebrow arching as her hands came to rest low on her hips.

“Most definitely,” he practically growled as he slowly made his way to her, his gaze roaming over her as sure as his fingers were soon going to be doing to her body. “If you would’ve been wearing that when we went to the Wild West, I would never have been able to resist you.”

“If I had known this was all it took, I’d have bought an outfit like it soon after we first met,” she teased him as he came to stand directly in front of her.

“There wouldn’t have been near this much love behind the act,” he huskily murmured as he seductively brushed his lips against her ear, his fingers untying her bandana and tossing it onto the floor. “It would have been pure…unadulterated…lust…nothing more.”

Bruce felt her shiver as his hands settled on her waist, his mouth beginning a leisurely assault on her throat. She tilted her head to the side, giving him full access to her as she blindly searched for the ties to his breastplate. She needed to feel his warm skin against hers.

“I love what we have now,” she admitted with a soft gasp as he raked his teeth over her pulse point before sucking hard. “It’s more passionate…more meaningful.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” he readily decided, pushing her leather vest off her shoulders before his hands found the front tie of her halter shirt.

She moaned as his hands found her breasts, her mouth finding his in a heated kiss that swiftly stole his breath. Breaking the kiss, she placed nipping kisses along his jaw to his ear. “Remind me,” she breathlessly murmured in his ear.

“Remind you…of what?” he asked, his breathing exerted and his mind already focused solely on her and nothing else.

“I have something to ask you after this,” she teased.

Diana squealed in surprise as she abruptly found herself lying on their bed on her back, her husband looming large above her with her hands pinned on either side of her head. “No you don’t, Princess,” he roughly growled with a dark, threatening glower on his face. “You are not allowed to ask me anything until I return from patrol in the morning.”

Diana giggled as he began to hungrily devour her throat, his hands finding her sides to tickle her. She tilted her head back, trying to catch her breath. “Bruce…stop!” she exclaimed. “I just…I want to know if you…would be my date.”

“Is this a trick or a treat?” he demanded to know, pausing to look down at her. 

“A treat,” she ventured with a dazzling grin, her teeth slowly raking over her bottom lip in that way that always managed to drive him absolutely crazy. “There’s a costume party tomorrow night at Gotham’s Grand Ballroom. It’s for charity and I’m attending as either a sexy nurse or maybe a cheerleader. I haven’t quite decided yet.”

Bruce released a ragged breath as he stared down at his beautiful wife, his defenses rapidly crumbling in the wake of her intoxicating smile and the revelation of her costume choices. “Ask me after we’ve had sex,” he replied with a devious smirk, his mouth crashing greedily into hers as he began to make love to her.


End file.
